Kabaddi is a contact team sport from South Asia that looks unlike any other game. Two teams of seven players face each other on a mat, and the action is built around the raid: a single player crosses into enemy territory, tries to tag as many opponents as possible and get home safely, all while holding their breath and chanting "kabaddi, kabaddi" without stopping. It is fast, physical and deeply tactical.
How the game works
Two teams of seven players occupy opposite halves of a rectangular mat, divided by a midline. The teams take turns raiding. The raider crosses the midline into the opponent's half, tries to touch one or more defenders, and returns to their own half to score. The whole raid must happen on a single breath, with the raider chanting "kabaddi" continuously. If the chant stops, the raid is over.
In the Pro Kabaddi League, each raid lasts a maximum of 30 seconds. The defending team tries to stop the raider with a tackle before they get back across the midline. If the raider returns safely after touching opponents, those opponents are out and must leave the mat. They can only return when their own team scores points, in the order they were dismissed.
A professional match is played in two halves of 20 minutes, with a five-minute break between them. The team with more points at the end wins.
Scoring, point by point
Every point in kabaddi comes from the raid or the tackle. A raider scores one point for each defender they touch and return safely from. The defending team scores one point when they successfully tackle the raider.
There are bonus points on both sides. If the raider crosses the bonus line, a line one metre beyond the baulk line, while six or more defenders are on the mat, they earn a bonus point. If a raider scores three or more points in a single raid, it is called a super raid. If a team with three or fewer defenders on the mat tackles the raider, it is a super tackle and earns two points instead of one.
If a team has two empty raids in a row, raids in which no point is scored, the next raid becomes a do-or-die raid. The raider must score a point or they are out and the defending team gets a point. If a team gets all seven opposing players out, it is an all-out, known as a lona, and earns two extra points before the eliminated team returns to the mat.
The players
Kabaddi players specialise in three roles. Raiders are the attackers, quick and agile, who score points in the opponent's half. Defenders are the tacklers, strong and coordinated, who work in chains to trap the raider. All-rounders do both, raiding and defending as the match demands.
Defending in kabaddi is a team skill. Defenders hold a chain, linking arms or hands, and move together to cut off the raider's escape routes. A lone defender who rushes in is easily beaten; a coordinated chain can trap even the best raider against the boundary.
Formats and major competitions
The professional game is led by the Pro Kabaddi League, the PKL, launched in India in 2014 by Mashal Sports in collaboration with Star India. The league features 12 teams representing Indian cities, plays a round-robin league stage followed by playoffs, and has turned a village sport into a prime-time television spectacle.
Kabaddi is also played at the Asian Games in the standard seven-a-side format, and the Kabaddi World Cup brings national teams together. The sport is growing beyond South Asia, with leagues and national teams emerging in countries including Iran, South Korea, Kenya and England.
If a PKL match ends level, there are no draws. Since Season 12 in 2025, a tied match goes to a tie-breaker of five raids each. If it is still level, a golden raid decides it, and if the teams are still level after that, the winner is decided by a toss.
A brief history
Kabaddi is one of India's oldest sports, played for centuries in villages across the subcontinent. Its exact origins are lost to history, but the game grew out of the physical training and hunting traditions of ancient India. For most of its history it was a rural pastime, played on mud courts with no professional structure.
That changed in 2014, when the Pro Kabaddi League launched and brought the sport to television audiences across India and beyond. The league's fast format, cheerleaders, city-based franchises and star raiders turned kabaddi into one of India's most-watched sports, and the game's international profile has grown every year since.
How to follow it
If you are new to kabaddi, watch the raider's feet and the defenders' chain. The raider needs a way home, and the defenders need to close every gap. Listen for the chant: it is the heartbeat of the sport, and when it stops, the raid is dead. And watch the do-or-die raids, because they are the moments when the pressure is highest and the best raiders show their nerve.