# India national kabaddi team

The India men's national kabaddi team represents India in international men's kabaddi competitions. The team is by far the most successful national kabaddi side of any country, winning gold medals at the Asian Games in 1990 (the first year the sport was contested), 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2022, as well as winning all four Kabaddi World Cup events to date. Pawan Sehrawat is the current captain of the team since 2022.

## History
### 1990s

Kabaddi was contested at the Asian Games as a competitive (non-exhibition) sport for the first time in 1990. India beat Bangladesh in the gold medal match for both the 1990 Asian Games and 1994 Asian Games. India lost to Pakistan in the 1993 South Asian Games gold medal match. In the 1998 Asian Games held in Bangkok, the team beat arch rivals Pakistan for the gold medal.

### 2000s

India beat Bangladesh in the gold medal match of the 2002 Asian Games, held in Busan.
India won the inaugural Kabaddi World Cup in 2004, beating Iran by a 55–27 margin. They repeated the feat three years later, beating the Iranians 29–19.
At the 2006 Asian Games, India beat Pakistan 35–23 to win their fifth gold medal at the tournament.

### 2010s

In the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, India continued to dominate, winning gold on both occasions.
When the Kabaddi World Cup resumed again in 2016 after a nine-year hiatus, India beat Iran for the third final in a row by 38–29.
In 2017, India won the Asian Kabaddi Championship led by raider Ajay Thakur with raider Pardeep Narwal bagging a super 10 beating Pakistan in the final by 36–22.
India won the 2018 Dubai Kabaddi Masters tournament, beating Iran 44–26 in the final.
At the 2018 Asian Games, India lost to South Korea 23–24 in the group stages – this was the Indian team's first ever loss in their history at the Asian Games. Despite the loss, India qualified for the semi-finals, but lost 27–18 to Iran, who went on to win the gold.
India won the gold at the 2019 South Asian Games led by Deepak Niwas Hooda, beating Sri Lanka in the final by 51–18 with raiders Pawan Sehrawat, Naveen Kumar, Pardeep Narwal .

### 2020s

The Indian team have not played in any tournaments for a long time since December 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, India won the Asian Kabaddi Championship by defeating Iran in the final by 42–32.

## Results and fixtures
### 2023

Asian Games
* 3 October 2023 08:30
| India | 55–18 | Bangladesh |
* Guali Cultural & Sports Centre, Xiaoshan, China
* 4 October 2023 08:30
| India | 63–26 | Thailand |
* Guali Cultural & Sports Centre, Xiaoshan, China
* 5 October 2023 10:35
| India | 50–27 | Chinese Taipei |
* Guali Cultural & Sports Centre, Xiaoshan, China
* 5 October 2023 16:10
| Japan | 30–56 | India |
* Guali Cultural & Sports Centre, Xiaoshan, China
* 6 October 2023 15:00
| India | 61–14 | Pakistan |
* Guali Cultural & Sports Centre, Xiaoshan, China
* 7 October 2023 15:00
| India | 33–29 | Iran |
* Guali Cultural & Sports Centre, Xiaoshan, China

## Tournament history
### Standard kabaddi
#### World Cup

| Year | Rank | Pld | W | D | L |
| 2004 | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Champions | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 2025 | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC | TBC |
| Total | 3/3 | 18 | 17 | 0 | 1 |

#### Asian Games

| Year | Rank | M | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD |
| 1990 | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 234 | 84 | +150 |
| 1994 | Champions | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 227 | 78 | +149 |
| 1998 | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 295 | 119 | +176 |
| 2002 | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 224 | 84 | +140 |
| 2006 | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 188 | 106 | +82 |
| 2010 | Champions | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 166 | 80 | +86 |
| 2014 | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 182 | 103 | +79 |
| 2018 | Third place | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 184 | 130 | +54 |
| 2022 | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 318 | 144 | +174 |
| Total | 9/9 | 45 | 43 | 0 | 2 | 2018 | 928 | +1090 |

#### Asian Kabaddi Championship

Asian Kabaddi Championship :
| Year | Host country | Position |
| 1980 | India | 1st |
| 1988 | India | 1st |
| 2000 | Sri Lanka | 1st |
| 2001 | Thailand | 1st |
| 2002 | Malaysia | 1st |
| 2003 | Malaysia | GS |
| 2005 | Iran | 1st |
| 2017 | Iran | 1st |
| 2023 | South Korea | 1st |

#### South Asian Games

South Asian Games :
| Year | Host city | Position |
| 1985 | Dhaka, Bangladesh | 1st |
| 1987 | Kolkata, India | 1st |
| 1989 | Islamabad, Pakistan | 1st |
| 1993 | Dhaka, Bangladesh | 2nd |
| 1995 | Madras, India | 1st |
| 1999 | Kathmandu, Nepal | 1st |
| 2004 | Islamabad, Pakistan | 1st |
| 2006 | Colombo, Sri Lanka | 1st |
| 2010 | Dhaka, Bangladesh | 1st |
| 2016 | Guwahati & Shillong, India | 1st |
| 2019 | Kathmandu, Pokhara & Janakpur, Nepal | 1st |

#### Dubai Kabaddi Masters

| Year | Rank | Pld | W | D | L |
| 2018 | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 1/1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |

### Beach kabaddi
#### World Championship

World Beach Kabaddi Championship :
| Year | Host country | Position |
| 2024 | Iran | DNP |

#### Asian Beach Games

| Year | Rank | Pld | W | D | L |
| 2008 | Champions | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2010 | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | Third place | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2014 | Third place | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2016 | Runners-up | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 5/5 | 23 | 16 | 2 | 5 |

#### South Asian Beach Games

| Year | Rank | Pld | W | D | L |
| 2011 | Runners-up | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 1/1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 |

### Indoor kabaddi
#### Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games

| Year | Rank | Pld | W | D | L |
| 2007 | Champions | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Participated as Independent Olympic Athletes (IOA) |||||
| Total | 3/3 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 |

### Circle kabaddi
#### Circle World Cup

| Year | Rank | Pld | W | D | L |
| 2010 | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | Champions | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Champions | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | Runners-up | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 7/7 | 44 | 43 | 0 | 1 |

#### Circle Asian Cup

| Year | Rank | Pld | W | D | L |
| 2011 | Champions | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 2016 | Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 3/3 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 2 |

## Honours
### World

* World Cup - Standard style:
** Champions (3): 2004, 2007, 2016
* World Cup - Circle style:
** Champions (6): 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016
** Runners-up (1): 2020

### Asia

* Asian Kabaddi Championship:
** Champions (8): 1980, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2017, 2023
* Asian Games:
** Gold Medal (8): 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022
** Bronze Medal (1): 2018
* Asian Beach Games:
** Gold Medal (2): 2008, 2010
** Silver Medal (1): 2016
** Bronze Medal (2): 2012, 2014

### South Asia

* South Asian Games:
** Gold Medal (10): 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2016, 2019
** Silver Medal (1): 1993

## Current squad

* Name
* Nitesh Kumar
* Divvay Sharma
* Pradeep Narwal
* Surjeet Singh Narwal
* Arjun Deshwal
* Aslam Inamdar
* Naveen Kumar
* Pawan Sehrawat (captain)
* Sunil Kumar
* Nitin Rawal
* Akash Shinde

## Players
### Captains

* List of Indian kabbadi captains
* Rakesh Kumar (2006–2010)
* Anup Kumar (2010–2016)
* Ajay Thakur (2016–18)
* Deepak Niwas Hooda (2019–2022)
* Pawan Sehrawat (2023–present)

### Notable players

* Manathi Ganeshan
* Raju Bhavsar
* Maninder Singh
* Randhir Singh Sehrawat
* Ram Mehar Singh
* Balwan Singh
* Ramesh Kumar
* Rakesh Kumar
* Anup Kumar
* Navneet Gautam
* Jasvir Singh
* Ajay Thakur
* Rahul Chaudhari
* Manjeet Chillar
* Mohit Chillar
* Pardeep Narwal
* Dharmaraj Cheralathan
* Monu Goyat
* Rohit Kumar
* Rishank Devadiga
* Deepak Niwas Hooda