The India 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, and 2014, as well as winning all three Kabaddi World Cup events to date. Pawan Sehrawat is the current captain of the team (declared so in 2022) after Deepak Niwas Hooda (former captain) was suffering from bad form in PKL 9.[1][2]
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.[3] In the 1998 Asian Games held in Bangkok, the team beat arch rivals Pakistan for the gold medal.[4][5]
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.[7]
At the 2006 Asian Games, India beat Pakistan 35–23 to win their fifth gold medal at the tournament.[8]
2010s
In the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, India continued to dominate, winning gold on both occasions.[9][10]
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.[11]
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.[15][16]
Balwan Singh
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2018
Iran
2020
2010
2016
2007
2017
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Kathmandu, Nepal
Colombo, Sri Lanka
2018