Kabaddi match in Australia an attempt to expand sporting relationship with India: PKL Commissioner Anupam Goswami

With an eye on adding a third dimension to India’s fierce sporting rivalry with Australia, the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) has accepted the Victoria State Government’s invitation to conduct a first-ever exhibition kabaddi game in Melbourne this year.

Scheduled for December 28 – right after stumps on the third day of the Boxing Day Test of the Border-Gavaskar Series– the evening will involve two exhibition fixtures. An Australian side made up of recently retired Australian Football League players will take on an Indian side made up of players from the PKL. This will be followed by the main event – the PKL All-Stars match between former stars and current marquee players in the league.

The PKL’s ‘Melbourne Raid’ which will be held at the John Cain Arena, was birthed from an invitation by Victoria’s tourism arm – Visit Victoria.

For the League and its organiser Mashal Sports, official broadcaster Disney Star and commissioner Anupam Goswami, the event is an opportunity to give the sport international eyeballs and potentially entice the Aussies to get a proper taste of a sport indigenous to India.

Q: How did the concept of this match come about?

A: This initiative was totally at the behest of the Visit Victoria authorities who were very gracious with this invite. There was a meeting of minds between Disney Star and the Victoria authorities.

There was a realisation then that there was this great opportunity with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy’s Boxing Day Test and the fact that the PKL season would be on at the same time. Both sides were quick to get on to it.

We have a very short preparation time. It’s commendable that Victoria has put the team together and figured out a way to train the Australian athletes participating.

Australia has experienced kabaddi before, with a team participating in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup. The captain of that team, Campbell Brown was very gracious to speak positively of the sport and its following in India.

This entire exercise just shows how much sport, in any form, is part of the very spirit of Australia. The readiness with which they came to this initiative, deciding to do an Australia vs PKL demonstration shows that we should look forward to an absolutely high-quality competitive festival of kabaddi in Melbourne on December 28.

Q: With Victoria organising the event, what does PKL bring to the table in Melbourne?

A: Our mission is connected to creating a high-quality ground event, which among other things will also mean that we’ll look at not only high-quality athletes but also high standards of officiating. We will ensure the organisation of the match and an on-ground environment where people watching can understand the sport.

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We’re sensitive to the Indian diaspora there but there are also Australians outside the community who we expect to see in the stands. People need to understand what’s happening on the mat and particularly for a contact sport like kabaddi, first-timers can find it a bit hard. PKL has solid blinkers on when it comes to fandom and consumption. The idea is to replicate the same there.

Q: The Indian diaspora in Australia does have kabaddi events on a community level. Will that make building on this initiative in terms of popularising the sport there easier?

A: I think that kind of discovery has already been there for the Visit Victoria folks. What we hear is that there are already several sets of community leaders who have been reaching out to them for engagement and participation in this initiative.

One big element for us is to expand the spectrum of the Australia-India sporting relationship. It is a pretty intense one as is. Look at cricket. We have an intense one in hockey too. We’d like Kabaddi to join this list.

The larger picture from such engagement is the potential benefits for organised processes like tourism and economic outflows for both nations. We are being given the opportunity to give space and relevance to an Indian sport. We want to ensure we use it well.

Q: Does India making the bid for the 2036 Summer Olympics give Kabaddi’s Olympic dreams hope?

A: If Kabaddi has a tryst with the Olympics, then a Games held in India will surely be the strongest of opportunities. On the other hand, we are also aware that the consumption and fandom of PKL allows India to project a multi-sport culture. Kabaddi is already a multi-nation discipline, a medal event at the Asian Games. So we know and understand that the advocacy of kabaddi can contribute appropriately to the bid to take it to the Olympics.

A key feature for people to accept a sport at the Olympics or for that matter any multi-nation event is to look at where all the sport is played and consumed. That was a very strong consideration when we facilitated the participation of a representative Australian side at the 2016 World Cup. To then have initiatives like this invite from Visit Victoria to showcase kabaddi, we hope to develop a programme around it. We would love for Australia to take up kabaddi.

We definitely want to see a great Australian athlete take to the sport and earn an opportunity to play in the PKL. For the moment though, a lot will depend on the sense of kabaddi we are able to communicate and how we get people to enjoy the sport in December.