PKL stars Pardeep, Chiyaneh team up with Kabaddi Rao for ‘Ultimate Masterclass’

NEW DELHI: Kabaddi as a sport has improved by leaps and bounds since the inception of the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) 10 years ago. Over the years, the game has seen changes in many outdated rules as the league looks to improve the standard of the sport and protect the players from injury or harm.

Before the PKL Season 10’s Delhi leg kicked off, a brilliantly held session was hosted for media personnel by E Prasad Rao, Technical Director of the Pro Kabaddi League and also fondly known as ‘Kabaddi Rao’, who is among the most prominent names in Kabaddi across the world.

During the ‘Media Masterclass’, Prasad Rao presented six key rules of the game to the media — Lobby Rule, Strategic Timeout, Substitution Rule, Raider Safe Rule, Bonus Point Rule and Chain Tackles.

“Media has played a very important role in the growth of Kabaddi over the years. They are the ones who spread the rules of the game to the viewers. Which is why it is very important for the media people to also understand how Kabaddi works,” explained the Kabaddi legend.

Over the session that lasted more than an hour, journalists were given a first-hand experience about the inner workings of the Pro Kabaddi League, including a stadium tour of the Thyagaraj Stadium, which will play host to the Delhi Leg of PKL Season 10.

At the Field of Play (FOP), the journalists were surprised by the presence of some of the biggest names in the PKL, including the legendary Pardeep Narwal of the UP Yoddhas, Mohammadreza Shadloui of the Puneri Paltans, as well as Sahil Gulia and Himanshu from the Tamil Thalaivas.

Pardeep Narwal and his fellow Kabaddi players demonstrated multiple moves, which included a Super Raid, a Super Tackle, Bonus Points and a Do-Or-Die Raid.

Speaking about the Masterclass host and his expertise on the subject, UP Yoddhas skipper Narwal said, “Rao sir is one of the biggest coaches in kabaddi. If you ever play under him, you learn discipline. He stresses discipline because he believes it will take you very far in whatever sport you want to play. He is a senior kabaddi master in our country, and whenever you talk to him, you always learn something new.”

Concluding the event, Kabaddi Rao reserved high praise for the PKL and its stakeholders for their efforts in improving the game, “The rules that the PKL has introduced to Kabaddi has been for the betterment of the game. No one will argue that these new rules are bad because they have made the game more interesting. On behalf of every kabaddi lover, I must thank PKL for their experimentation of the game, because this has taken kabaddi to every continent of the world.”