Kabaddi is always the thrilling heart-throb with a dash of nostalgia in each Indian mind. Indians relish this sport in every generation but somehow missed the glamour and popularity among the masses. But recently the formation of a professional league triggered an explosion of stardom for this native sport.

The roots of Kabaddi can be traced back to pre-historic times with references from the Hindu mythology where Arjuna playing the game in Mahabharatha. The word kabaddi came from a Tamil word, kai-pidi which means holding hands and many Indian states play this game.

Even though Kabaddi was the favorite sport of many states, it was Maharashtra who standardized the game in 1915. The game was featured in 1938 in the Indian Olympic Games at Calcutta. Later in 1950 All India Foundation for Kabaddi came to existence and framed the foundational rules for the contemporary version.

In 1961, Kabaddi got its grand entry to the country’s educational curriculum. The first Asian Kabaddi Championship was held in 1980 which saw the participation of Nepal, Japan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and India. Asian games entry of this wrestling sport occurred in 1990 with seven teams contesting for the trophy.

Even if all these advances to raise the status of Kabaddi were made, it was the formation of the Indian Kabaddi League in 2014 which significantly changed the perception of the Indian crowd. From the status of a rural leisure game, Kabaddi has definitely come a long way to be one of the favorite sports channel competition to watch out.