"Every Indian has played kabaddi," says Chennai team owner Sachin Tendulkar
What’s the story?
Indian cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar added a kabaddi franchise to his collection of sports teams yesterday after he was announced as a co-owner of the new Pro Kabaddi League team based in Chennai. Four more teams have been added for the upcoming fifth edition of the league, with Tendulkar bagging the rights for the Tamil Nadu one along with entrepreneur N Prasad.
In an interview with the Mumbai Mirror, he revealed why he bought a kabaddi team and how every Indian has played kabaddi atleast once. He said, “It is an Indian sport and at some stage of one’s life, every Indian must have played kabaddi. I am no different. I played a lot of it in my childhood days.”
He also explained why he chose the Chennai franchise, saying that it is a city that means a lot to him. “I enjoyed a lot of support from Chennai during my playing days. The city is dear to me,” he stated. He also added, “If my presence helps the league (in increasing its profile), I will be happy about that.”
In case you didn’t know
The Pro Kabaddi League added four new franchises from Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to its roster. The last four seasons have had eight teams with Patna Pirates winning the last two finals.
The heart of the matter
The names of the new teams are still undecided. Thre remaining three teams have been bought by major business houses, namely the Adani Group (Gujarat), JSW Group (Haryana) and GMR Group (Uttar Pradesh).
The addition of the new teams will see the PKL surpass all other sporting leagues in India, including the extremely popular Indian Premier League (IPL), in terms of the number of teams and geographical coverage. The 12 teams will now cover a total of 11 states across the country, an unprecedented first.
The new season will also reach new heights in terms of duration. It will feature over 130 matches over the course of the season spread over more than three months. Earlier this week, the organizers also announced a Rs 300 crore title sponsorship deal with Chinese company VIVO, which also is the title sponsor for the IPL.
What’s next?
Season five is all set to get underway in the coming weeks and is expected to be bigger than ever.
Author’s take
The involvement of popular public figure such as Tendulkar will help in the promotion of the competition as well as the sport. We can’t wait for the next season to begin!