Kabaddi Pro League: Different styles of Kabaddi played in India

The sport was initially introduced in the tournament in 1990 only for men, and soon in 2010, the women's category was also introduced in the Asiad. The sport is typically famous in the south Asian region and is also the national sport of Nepal and Bangladesh. 

The type of Kabaddi played on an international level typically has seven players on each side, separated by the midline. The game's objective is to allow the raiders of one team to go one by one to the opponent's boundary and tag as many players as possible. The game is divided into two halves of 20 minutes each, with a break of 5 minutes in between. When a raider approaches the opponent's boundary, he has to hold his breath and tag players of the opposite team while repeatedly saying the term 'kabaddi-kabaddi' to show the referee that he's still holding his breath. 

While the raider tries to tag as many players as possible and touch the midline in one breath, the defenders' job is to tackle and hold him down to prevent him from crossing the midline. If the defenders fail to hold him down and he travels the centre line, the tagged defenders shall be declared out, and for each tagged defender, the opposite team will gain one point. The opposite team will also gain three bonus points if all defenders have been tagged. The tagged players leave the field temporarily. The raider can only tag the defenders as long as he is holding his breath. The team with the most points wins the game. 

While this is followed on international platforms, other forms of Kabaddi are also played locally in India, given that the game holds high popularity on Indian streets. Following are the various kinds of Kabaddi played in India:

Gaminee  Style of Kabaddi

In the Gaminee style, there are seven players on each side. There's no fixed time duration of the game. The game continues for as long as it takes to tag and out the entire team and the team with maximum points at the end wins the match. 

Amar Style of Kabaddi

Like Gaminee, in Amar style as well, there is no fixed duration. The difference is that while in Gaminee, the tagged player stays out of the field permanently, in Amar, the player continues to play on the field. Tagging each player helps the opponents gain a point, and the game continues till either of the teams scores 5 or 7 of such points. 

Sanjeevani Style of Kabaddi

Here the game duration is 40 minutes, and the opponents score one point on tagging each player. Extra four points are scored on tagging the entire team. Here the ranked player leaves the field; however, it is revived when one player of the opposite team is tagged. Each unit has seven members, and the team with the highest points at the end wins the match. 

Google Style of Kabaddi

Unlike all the other forms, this form doesn't require the raider to say the word 'kabaddi' or say anything. He only needs to touch the opponents and try to return. When he touches an opponent, that same opponent needs to wrestle and hold him down to prevent him from crossing the centre line. If the raider gives up, the defending team scores the point; if not, the raiding team scores a point.