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 three
Kabaddi World Cup events to date.
Pawan Sehrawat is the current captain of the team since 2022.[1][2]
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.[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]