BREATHLESS OVER KABADDI

The Pro Kabaddi League has proven to be a shot in the arm for the contact sport. The new season, which will begin on October 18, is eagerly awaited

- Suhani Singh

These days, Sachin Tanwar is used to his friends calling him a crorepati. As the most expensive player in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) this season, which begins on October 18 in Hyderabad, the bid of Rs 2.15 crore—the second highest in PKL history—was a culmination of a dream for the Tamil Thalaivas player. “After playing for six years in the league, I had wanted to go to the auction. It was my mother’s dream ki meri sabse best boli lagni chahiye [I should have the best bid],” he says. Now in its eleventh season, PKL has become one of Star Sports’ most successful properties, which it created in collaboration with Mashal Sports a decade back. And in being so, PKL has changed the lives of talented players like Sachin. “I belong to a simple kisaan [farmer] family. I couldn’t give them much before,” he says. “I’ve made a house for my parents, got a car for my father and brother. It feels good to help them.” As part of the second most popular sporting league in India after the Indian Premier League, Tanwar has seen not just financial growth but also seen kabaddi evolve at a rapid rate. “Now kabaddi is something different altogether,” he says. Transitioning “from mitti to mat, the game’s become so fast, the movements are quick and the atmosphere is different.” It’s this very speed of play which has made PKL ideal for television.