Former sports presenter and national diver Charu Sharma has moved to newer pastures. As the Chief Executive Officer of the Pro Kabaddi League, he has been responsible for much of the groundwork of the tournament which seeks to popularise the heritage sport. Excerpts from an interview:
What were the reasons for you to look at a rural sport like kabaddi?
Yes, kabaddi may be played more in smaller cities and rural India. But the sport has enough presence in bigger cities as well. As a case in point, Mumbai, which is India’s most urban metropolis, has a huge, thriving kabaddi fraternity, boasting over 500 kabaddi clubs. It is our very own unique, heritage sport, with origins dating back to our mythology – the chakravyuh episode in the Mahabharata. It has evolved into a modern, international competitive sport, played at the Asian Games. Currently 34 countries are affiliated to the International Kabaddi Federation. India is still the Mecca of the sport. We are clearly still the best in the world. A record six consecutive gold medals at the Asian Games. It is a mother sport requiring a wide variety of athletic skills, along with aerobic capacity. It is also an extremely attractive sport, with non-stop gut wrenching action.
How can sports lovers contribute to popularising kabaddi?
Seeing is believing. Once sports lovers watch the action at NSCI, or Star Sports, Star Gold, on July 26, they will rediscover the excitement, thrill, power of the sport. We are hoping that Pro Kabaddi will showcase the magic of the sport and help reconnect our population with what is a part of our DNA. By watching the best players of the game, it is bound to start a trickledown effect, where more youngsters are attracted to playing/watching kabaddi. After all you require zero equipment to play.
Does kabaddi present a challenge in terms of attracting sponsors and viewers?
We don’t think it will be a big challenge to attract viewers, due to the attractive presentation and production of Pro Kabaddi. Of course, as always, the support of the media is critical in supporting this revolution. However, sponsorship and commercial partnerships tend to be less ‘pioneering’. So, yes, their support will always be difficult to begin with. But I’m confident that after India sees what Pro Kabaddi is all about, all the walls of prejudice will fall and perception will change drastically. In many ways, kabaddi is the ideal IDEAL platform for hundreds of mass consumer products/brands to reconnect with “real” India, and increase their visibility through a sport with a mass base pan-India.
How is this venture different from cricket and hockey?
Well, let’s not get into the cricket sphere. Because cricket has a huge headstart in terms of visibility, media attention and commercial support. Hockey is certainly a very similar effort. The essential difference with Pro Kabaddi is that despite being an integral part of our socio-cultural space, kabaddi has received negligible media /TV visibility. So, Pro Kabaddi will be showcasing the slick, sophisticated, modern world-class nature of the sport for the very first time. We are confident that a large section of our population will hugely appreciate the action and lift the sport onto the pedestal it deserves.
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