Raiders from the new ark—TV’s Pro-Kabaddi League—are India’s new heroes who earn in crores
SOME time after the IPL spot-fixing case was at its messy nadir in 2014, casting a dark shadow over the sport itself and denting the image of the BCCI, Vidarbha Cricket Association president Prakash Dixit was having a meal with friends at a club in Nagpur. The giant-sized TV was beam ing a cricket match. One of Dixit’s friends called out to change the channel to the one showing the Pro-Kabaddi League (PKL) live. “We were in CP Club, and a friend said, let’s switch from cricket to kabaddi, which was more thrilling and enjoyable,” recalls Dixit. It was a rare instance of a die-hard cricket fan swapping allegiance.
The incident illustrates how many fans have started seeing beyond cricket as their first-choice and openly embraced kabaddi after the advent of PKL in 2014. And why won’t they? The tension that grips the viewer when a fleet-footed raider darts into the competing team’s area, teasingly hovering like a bee, arms appraisingly outstretched for a touch, is palpable. Likewise, one is on the edge as the broken phalanx of players circle around the intruder, plotting the perfect entrapment, before the perfectly-timed lunge and grapple that ends so many audacious forays. Besides, this great game is among a few—chess is another— that can be called truly Indian.
Kabaddi has another claim to being a crowd favourite. The Indian men teams have won all seven men’s gold medals at the Asian Games since the inclusion of the sport in 1990, and both gold medals in the women’s category. Indian men have won all three World Cups held so far. But these exploits didn’t earn as many fans as the PKL has done over the last four years, with many players becoming household names by dint of their on-mat exploits.
Denne historien er fra July 23, 2018-utgaven av Outlook.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 23, 2018-utgaven av Outlook.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Trump's White House 'Waapsi'
Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election may very well mean an end to democracy in the near future
IMT Ghaziabad hosted its Annual Convocation Ceremony for the Class of 2024
Shri Suresh Narayanan, Chairman Managing Director of Nestlé India Limited, congratulated and motivated graduates at IMT Ghaziabad's Convocation 2024
Identity and 'Infiltrators'
The Jharkhand Assembly election has emerged as a high-stakes political contest, with the battle for power intensifying between key players in the state.
Beyond Deadlines
Bibek Debroy could engage with even those who were not aligned with his politics or economics
Portraying Absence
Exhibits at a group art show in Kolkata examine existence in the absence
Of Rivers, Jungles and Mountains
In Adivasi poetry, everything breathes, everything is alive and nothing is inferior to humans
Hemant Versus Himanta
Himanta Biswa Sarma brings his hate bandwagon to Jharkhand to rattle Hemant Soren’s tribal identity politics
A Smouldering Wasteland
As Jharkhand goes to the polls, people living in and around Jharia coalfield have just one request for the administration—a life free from smoke, fear and danger for their children
Search for a Narrative
By demanding a separate Sarna Code for the tribals, Hemant Soren has offered the larger issue of tribal identity before the voters
The Historic Bonhomie
While the BJP Is trying to invoke the trope of Bangladeshi infiltrators”, the ground reality paints a different picture pertaining to the historical significance of Muslim-Adivasi camaraderie
