Kabaddi: The ancient Indian sport luring Aussie Rules stars this summer

Key Points

The first ever Pro Kabaddi League exhibition match in Australia will be played in Melbourne on 28 December.
The event, which coincides with the Boxing Day Test, aims to bring India’s traditional sport to a new audience.
Kabaddi is played with seven players on each side and has drawn comparisons to Aussie Rules football.

Melbourne’s John Cain Arena will resound with chants of ‘kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi’ this month when India’s second most watched sport comes to town.

On 28 December, when Victoria hosts the first ever Pro Kabaddi League exhibition match played in Australia, many eyes will be on the curtain-raiser: a clash between former Australian Football League (AFL) players and a team of Indian kabaddi professionals.

Kabaddi — which is said to have originated in India around 4,000 years ago — is a fast-paced contact sport in which two teams of seven battle for points by ‘raiding’ the opponent’s side of the field.

India’s Ram Mehar Singh at bottom trying to touch the tag line at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok. Credit: Ed Wray/AP Photos

December’s kabaddi exhibition coincides with the third day of the Boxing Day Test cricket match between India and Australia played at the nearby MCG.

Former Sydney Swans AFL star Josh Kennedy will captain the Australian kabaddi team, which will be coached by former Hawthorn and Gold Coast star Campbell Brown.

What is kabaddi and what are its rules?

Kabaddi is an ancient sport that’s enjoyed a resurgence in popularity over the past decade.

Launched in 2014, the Pro Kabaddi League claims to attract nearly 300 million viewers a year in India.

While the sport has previously made global forays — appearing as an exhibition sport ahead of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, for example — 2025 will see England become the first country outside Asia to host the world championship of kabaddi.

Combining elements of tag and wrestling, kabaddi is played without a ball but has drawn comparisons to team contact sports like rugby and Aussie Rules football.

The sport has multiple forms, including Punjab kabaddi (or ‘circle kabaddi’), played on a circular field outdoors.

However, the standard form of kabaddi, which is used at the international level and in the Pro Kabaddi League, is played on a rectangular court indoors.

It features a maximum of seven players per team, who tackle each other for maximum points in 40-minute games.

Teams are broken down into ‘raiders’ and ‘blockers’.

Each take turns sending a raider into opposition territory, who look to score points by tagging an opponent and making it back into his side’s territory without being tackled to the ground — all while chanting ‘kabaddi, kabaddi, kabaddi’.

Aussie Rules versus kabaddi

Kennedy, who played more than 250 AFL games for the Sydney Swans across an illustrious career, said footy and kabaddi are both action-packed sports with an emphasis on tackling.

Retired since 2022, he acknowledged that training for the new game was “certainly not easy”.

“The size of the oval in AFL compared to kabaddi is one thing that in itself explains differences (between the two sports),” he told SBS Punjabi.

Former AFL player and coach of the Australian kabaddi team Campbell Brown. Credit: AAP

“We are running around in a lot more space, probably a lot more endurance is required in Aussie Rules. Whereas kabaddi has a lot of power, short spurts. They are lightning quick on their feet.”

He said a lot of kabaddi professionals come from wrestling backgrounds, which explains differences in tackling techniques.

In AFL we are not allowed to tackle below the knees, whereas in kabaddi if you get someone in an ankle hold or a thigh hold that’s a great move.

Josh Kennedy, former AFL player and Australian kabaddi team captain

Kennedy, who recently paid a visit to India to learn more about the sport, said that despite these differences, Aussie Rules and kabaddi share a focus on “fun” and “action”.

“As a kid in Australia, we played ‘British bulldog’ [a tag-based game]. These games are very similar to kabaddi and played all over the world in different formats,” he added.

Bengal Warriors Maninder Singh (in blue) is pinned down by Tamil Thalaivas players during their Pro Kabaddi League match in Kolkata, India. Credit: Bikas Das/AP Photos

He said he hoped to “put on a good show” for the crowd in Melbourne, but acknowledged kabaddi is a sport that requires great skill levels.

“It can be picked up pretty quickly (and) a lot of people can have a lot of fun playing it,” he said.

“But competing at very, very high levels, that is a learnt skill and it takes a long long time to develop.

Bengaluru Bulls player Rohit Kumar (in red and black) tries to score a point against Bengal Warriors during their Pro Kabaddi League match in Mumbai, India, in 2017. Credit: Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo

“It’s natural for Aussie Rules players to not wait … when the players have got the ball.

“But in kabaddi, patience sometimes is the best defence. They are very patient and wait for right time to strike.

“That’s something for us — who are often on the front foot, like a bull at the gate — to work on. It just takes time to develop.”

New favourite sport for Australia?

While this is the first professional kabaddi match on Australian soil, there are hopes for the sport’s growth locally.

In this regard, Victoria’s almost 260,000 Indian-born residents and over 370,000 Victorians with Indian ancestry are seen as a key demographic.

“Victoria is the top destination for Indian visitors and it’s easy to see why – the Pro Kabaddi matches are part of a blockbuster summer of events,” Brendan McClements, CEO of Visit Victoria, said in a .

Victorian Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos described the Pro Kabaddi League as having “one of the fastest growing fan bases around the globe” and said the event would provide a boost for local businesses and jobs.

Josh Kennedy, the captain of the Australian kabaddi team, spent more than a decade playing AFL for the Sydney Swans. Credit: Dan Himbrechts/AP Photos

Kennedy, too, predicted the sport could catch on among Australians.

“We know Aussies love their sports. Love watching it, love playing it. I have shown it to my friends and family. They are really excited to see it,” he said.

“We are having so much fun training and playing it amongst ourselves. I can see why people of all ages enjoy playing it.”

Sunil Taneja, Indian kabaddi commentator. Credit: Supplied by Sunil Taneja

Sunil Taneja, a well-known commentator of India’s Pro Kabaddi League, said there was potential for kabaddi in Australia, “a nation which loves sports”.

“Not inviting an Australian team to play in India, but going to play on Aussie soil will give kabaddi’s popularity a great boost,” he told SBS Punjabi.

One thing that is common between both footy and kabaddi is that both are set in such a format that no one can be bored while watching it.

Sunil Taneja, Indian kabaddi commentator

“These are both action-packed games and (I) am sure local people here will love kabaddi.”

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