Injuries - The vulnerabilities of kabaddi
Kabaddi is a sport that has maximum body contact like wrestling and rugby. Besides these elements, you also have a few tactics from football like kicking. Stretching, twisting and getting brought down heavily are regular manoeuvres a player has to undergo in kabaddi. Therefore getting injured is the biggest hazard for any player.
Take the case of Puneri Paltan’s Yogesh Hudda who sustained an injury very early in Match 7 of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi between U Mumba and Puneri Paltan on Tuesday while trying a running hand touch. The sudden movement and braking while attempting to reach a rival proved costly. He was rendered ‘horse de combat’. Pune suffered as a result of that twitch in the right hamstring, losing their momentum and ultimately the match which ended 28-21 in favour of U Mumba.Yogi’s injury is not a cause for major worry.
Sports science has developed so much that the physio and trainer can get the man back on the field very soon. It all depends on the individual’s recovery, will to train and supportive therapies including medicines.
Even major injuries are no more a cause of worry. Nitin Madane of Maharashtra, currently part of the Bengal Warriors franchise, suffered a knee-injury for which he underwent surgery. The recovery was fine. He played a part in India’s gold medal win in the last Asian Games in Incheon (2014). He then gave a good performance in the inaugural Star Sports Pro Kabaddi season before sustaining an injury to the same knee. He has gone under the knife again and although he has been ruled out this season he should be raring to go in a few months.
Today’s sportspersons are indeed fortunate to have support from the system and that is more important because you are not left to fend for yourself.
Former players compare first aid given then to now
“That wasn’t the case in our times,” says Asian Games winner and Arjuna Awardee Raju Bhavsar. He recalled the horror he had to face when he incurred a knee injury while preparing for the SAF Games in Islamabad (1987). “There was no first-aid available then at the Sports Authority of India at the Salt Lake Stadium where we were training. When I landed at the dispensary hobbling in pain, the doctor coolly told me, nothing could be done.”
Traumatised badly by the injury and the doctor’s apathy Raju travelled back to Mumbai. It took him eight days to determine the cause and commence treatment. Luckily for him, renowned surgeon Dr. Vengsarkar was on his employers’ panel and he set his knee right. His career was resurrected and he won a gold medal at the Asiad in 1990. “I have seen a few players’ careers getting finished due to major injuries,” concluded Raju.
The plight of the earlier generation which played on mud was by far the worst. In Kabaddi the most common of the major injuries is dislocation of the shoulder and twisting of the knee and the ankle.
“In the days gone by, the ankle and knee twists were less as the players then played for the love of the sport and took care to see that the rival was not maimed or hurt much,” says Jaya Shetty, a veteran of the 60-70s. With more money coming and competition becoming intense, Kabaddi has become a no-holds barred contest and that is the root cause of injuries increasing by the day.
Jaya narrated as to how they used to go to bone-setters to treat the shoulder and other joints. “There were no X-rays or bone scans. You just went to either Digambar Parab or Mama Varkhade. The latter is still a regular in tournaments in Maharashtra and Mumbai. You just went with an egg or two in which they would prepare the ‘Lep’ or plaster/ointment. The worthies had a trick or two they had mastered.
“They would engage the patient asking him how he picked the injury. And at the same time would fix the dislocated joint in a moment with the technique which could have left a trained medico dumbstruck.”
Today things have changed for the better. No more termination of careers, less of pain and suffering, better treatment and rehabilitation and less trauma, physical and mental as more and more Kabaddi players and sportspersons in general are being looked after by their clubs/franchises as the sport becomes more organised and professional.