5 reasons why kabaddi can rival cricket for popularity in India
Cricket has been India’s most popular sport for the past few decades. Despite not being the national sport, the game between a bat and a ball played over a pitch of 22 yards enjoys mass popularity and has become a cult religion for Indians. The players playing the sport are considered no less than Gods while prayers are offered before every major match or tournament.However, despite all of its virtues, cricket can’t be called India’s own sport – a tag which is synonymous with kabaddi. The sport was invented by India and has been played by the nation for ages. The Indian national kabaddi team has steamrolled through in all the competitions, winning all the international tournaments on offer, but one thing that stands out is the indifference with which the sport is viewed by the Indians.But, with the inception of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi, we have seen a mass increase in viewership and popularity of the sport. Kabaddi players have become household names while kids have begun to play the sport in the lanes which used to just bear host to a game of cricket after school. But, can kabaddi ever rival, if not overtake, cricket in terms of popularity in India?Well, this may be true because:
#1 Speed and fitness
Kabaddi is a sport suitable for only the fittest of athletes. The sport requires players to hold their breath, leap and stretch far, jump high and use their strength to tackle the opposition. All of this is expected to be done as fast as possible with the difference between winning a match or losing being a fraction of a second.
With so many athletic qualities being displayed in a single sport, it is no doubt that kabaddi is exciting to watch. Fans lap up all the action in seconds and there would be very few, if any, viewers who would not admire the kabaddi players for their fitness.