All set for kabaddi carnival

A new era in India’s traditional sport kabaddi will begin when the eight team franchise Pro Kabaddi League kicks off at the NSCI Stadium here on Saturday.

The teams are owned by prominent personalities like Ronnie Screwvala ( Mumbai team — U Mumba), Abhishek Bachchan ( Jaipur Pink Panthers), Kishor Biyani ( Bengal Warriors), Radha Kapoor ( Dubang Delhi), Rajesh Shah ( Patna Pirates), Sumanlal Shah ( Puneri Paltan), Srinivasan Sreeramaneni ( Telugu Titans). The eighth team, Bengaluru Bulls is owned by Kosmik Global Media.

On the opening day Mumbai will play Jaipur and Delhi will be up against Bengaluru.

The rules have been tweaked a bit to make the tournament more interesting. Raiders will be governed by a 30 — second ‘ raid clock’ to eliminate time wasting tactics. A raider, who enters the opposition’s half in the presence of six or more defenders, will be awarded a bonus point, according to League organisers Mashal Sports.

To reward the defenders, the tournament organisers have introduced a ‘ super catch’, wherein, if a raider gets trapped when up against only three defenders or less, the defending team will get an extra point.

To minimise the number of empty raids, the third consecutive empty raid by any team will result in the ouster of that raider, and a point will be awarded to the opposition. In the scoring system during the league phase, teams will earn five points for a win and three points each for a tie. If the margin of loss is less than seven points, then the losing team will be awarded one bonus point. “Defence is going to play a important role. A raider can keep raiding but at the same time we can’t leak points,” said Rakesh Kumar, Patna Pirates.

Meanwhile, three Pakistani players Wajid Ali, Waseem Sajjad and Atif Waheed are expected to join their teams on Saturday but there is no confirmation on their travel plans, while the fourth – Nasir Ali – hasn’t got the visa.