Tag! You’re… Out?
Have you ever had a sleepless night where you turn on the TV to a random channel? I find myself doing that more often these days... YAY! Anyway, ESPN+ is a beautiful thing. Having shows that you don’t typically see on, sports that may or may not normally be broadcast are aired. It’s a cool way to get things out there and a cool way for fans to broaden their sports landscape.
As I was in bed watching TV at 3 AM, I scrolled through the ESPN app. Next thing I know, I saw something that caught my eye. A sport called Kabaddi. Not going to lie, the first thing that popped into my head: “what the hell is this?” But as I watched it, I became more interested. It’s like tag but more intense and with structure.
I almost flipped the channel when I saw a guy do some sort of cartwheel flip thing. Something that I haven’t seen. It was crazy. So, I gave it a few more minutes. Then a few more minutes. Next thing you know, I was fifteen minutes in and cheering for one side. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but I did know I wanted the Bulls to win.
Shall we dive deeper? We can learn together and take advantage of my 3AM random channel surfing. I peeked at the rules on prokabaddi.com and got a basic understanding.
Let’s start with the basics. Kabaddi is an Indian sport that is played with two teams of 7. It is played on a court that is 43 feet long and 33 feet wide. From there the court is divided in half. Each team has their own side of the court. Then, two lines will be added to each half a baulk line and a bonus line. These are parting of the scoring process.
We’ve got the court set up, let’s learn to play the game. Like mentioned before, each team has seven players. The teams take turns on offense and defense. When on offense a player will be assigned as the “raider.” As the raider, the player must go on the opposing team’s side of the court and tag a player from the opposing team and rushing back to their own side. The fun part, they have to chant “Kabaddi” the entire time, or they will be declared out. If the raider is successful in tagging an opponent and retreating, they receive a point and the tagged player is out for the round. Remember the bonus line? If the defending team has six or seven players, the raider can touch the bonus line for an extra point on top of the points earned for tagging the opponents. Oh, by the way, your turn is only 30 seconds.
Defending is where it gets fun, at least in my eyes. You get to tackle the raider. As a defender, you try to avoid being touched. However, if you do get touched, you best be running after the raider. Because if you bring them down before they reach the midline, you are safe. Defense is also pretty easy compared to offense. It can be tricky though. If you go for a tackle and don’t get them down, get pushed out of bounds, or simply get touched, you are out!
You are able to revive an out teammate if you tackle a raider or tag a defender.
Point system is pretty simple. Touch someone as the raider, you get a point. Reach the bonus line, you get an extra point. If you have less than four players on defense, and you make a tackle, it is considered a “Super Tackle.” Super tackles are worth two points and allow you to revive two players. If the attacking team wipes out the defenders, it is considered an “all out.” For this, the attacking team gets two bonus points, plus an additional point for each player still standing. After an all out, every player is revived and a new round is started. It may seem like just an average game of tag with a little bit of cat and mouse, but there is more strategy that goes into this game.
It may seem confusing at first, but after watching it a couple of times, it begins to click. Since learning the rules and being introduced to the game, I can’t seem to stop watching it. Jedidiah’s last article asked which sport I’d like to learn more about and I put lacrosse. It was close but being that lax is more accessible and easily watched live, I felt that was the way to go.
It’s funny how the strangest events can bring you to something that can really catch your eye. Whether you are strolling down the street and a newspaper hits you in the face, or you can’t sleep so you turn on ESPN at 3AM. Something simple can bring something incredible to your sight.
Though it has not caught mainstream attention, I have seen it pop up more. In fact, there will be a Kabaddi tournament in Sacramento, California this upcoming September. The date is scheduled for September 19, 2026. The link can be found here.
Comments