I used to play kabaddi in my colony: Ravi Shastri

Ahead of the special season, former Indian cricketers Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar reminisced about their own experience of playing and watching the game of kabaddi in Mumbai.

Mumbai: The kabaddi fever is in the air as the PKL Season 10 is all set to begin in Ahmedabad on December 2. The superstars are ready to enthral the kabaddi lovers in each of the franchise’s home cities this edition.

Ahead of the special season, former Indian cricketers Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar reminisced about their own experience of playing and watching the game of kabaddi in Mumbai. “I used to play kabaddi in my colony. It was a lot of fun to play the game because we used to play in the evening. Everyone from the colony used to come together to play. And a group of 50 people used to watch our games,” said Shastri.

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Shastri also talked about the fitness level required for the sport, “A good fitness level is very important for kabaddi. Core strength and lower body are very important.” Meanwhile, Manjrekar spoke about the night kabaddi culture in Mumbai, “A very competitive night kabaddi used to take place and a lot of people used to go and watch the games in Mumbai. I also used to go and watch the games along with the huge crowd.” Manjrekar added that he found facing fast bowlers easier than playing kabaddi, “This is a contact sport. I found it easier to wear a helmet and face fast bowling than playing kabaddi. One requires flexibility, strength and smartness for this sport.” The league is thrilled to welcome the kabaddi fans from each of the franchise’s home cities back to the stadium this season, a release said.

The Ahmedabad leg will be held from December 2-7, 2023. Thereafter, the league will move in the following order of venues – Bengaluru (December 8-13, 2023), Pune (December 15-20, 2023), Chennai (December 22-27, 2023), Noida (December 29, 2023 – January 3, 2024), Mumbai (January 5-10, 2024), Jaipur (January 12-17, 2024), Hyderabad (January 19-24, 2024), Patna (January 26-31, 2024), Delhi (February 2-7, 2024), Kolkata (February 9-14, 2024) and Panchkula (February 16-21, 2024).