🤾 Kabaddi, explained
A contact team sport where a lone raider invades the rival half to tag defenders and escape home in a single breath.
What am I watching?
Kabaddi is two teams of seven on a rectangular mat split by a mid line, taking turns to attack. An attack is called a raid: one player (the raider) crosses into the opponents' half, tries to touch as many of the seven defenders as possible, and then must get back across the mid line without being wrestled down. Every defender the raider touches is out and worth a point; if the defenders pin or hold the raider so they cannot return, the raider is out instead and the defence gets the point. Raids alternate between the two teams for the whole match, so the rhythm is simple: raid, reset, counter-raid.
The hook is the risk exchange inside every raid. A raider deep in enemy territory is one mistimed step from being swarmed, so watch the geometry: defenders form a chain around the edges of their half, baiting the raider deeper, while the raider feints, kicks and lunges to steal a touch and sprint home. Players who are out sit off the mat, but they are not gone for good — points scored by their teammates revive them one by one, in the order they went out. Wipe out all seven opponents and you score an 'all out' for two bonus points, and everyone returns to the mat.
A televised match (for example in the Pro Kabaddi League) runs two 20-minute halves and typically produces 60-90 points, so scoring is constant. Things to look for: the 30-second raid clock forcing action, 'do-or-die' raids where the raider must score or be declared out, bonus-line points stolen against a full defence, and 'super tackles' where a depleted defence of three or fewer players gambles on bringing the raider down for extra reward.
How scoring works
Points come from raids, tackles and all outs. On a raid, the raider scores one touch point for every defender they touch, provided they return to their own half across the mid line without being caught. Every touched defender is out. If at least six defenders are on the mat, the raider can also score one bonus point just by crossing the bonus line — planting the lead foot beyond it while the trailing foot is still in the air — even if they never touch anyone. A raid worth three or more points is celebrated as a super raid.
The defence scores by stopping the raider: if they hold, pin or force the raider out of bounds before the raider re-crosses the mid line, the raider is out and the defence earns one tackle point. If the defence pulls this off with only three or fewer defenders on the mat, it is a super tackle, worth two points. A team that gets all seven opponents out at once scores an all out: two extra points on top of the points that emptied the mat, after which all seven opponents return.
Most points also revive players. Each touch point brings one of the raiding team's out players back, and each tackle point brings one defender back, always in the order players went out. Bonus points and the two extra all-out points add to the score but do not revive anyone.
The team with more points when time expires wins; matches can end in a tie in league play, while knockout matches use tie-breakers such as a series of five raids per side and, if needed, a sudden-death golden raid.
- 1 touch point per defender the raider touches before escaping to their own half
- 1 tackle point to the defence for stopping the raider before they cross back
- 1 bonus point for crossing the bonus line when 6+ defenders are on the mat
- Super tackle: a defence of 3 or fewer players stops the raider — 2 points
- Super raid: 3 or more points from a single raid
- All out: wiping out all 7 opponents earns 2 extra points and resets both sides
- Touch and tackle points revive out players in the order they were out; bonus and all-out points revive no one
- A do-or-die raider who fails to score is out, gifting the defence a point
Formats
Standard style
Circle style (Punjabi kabaddi)
Pro Kabaddi League rules
Beach kabaddi
Traditional variants (Sanjeevani, Gaminee, Amar)
The rules
The court
Standard kabaddi is played on a flat rectangular court — 13m x 10m for men and 12m x 8m for women at senior level, usually a cushioned mat for professional play. A mid line divides it into two halves, one per team. Almost every rule in kabaddi is about which lines a player has crossed and in what order.
Baulk line and bonus line
In each half, the baulk line runs parallel to the mid line, 3.75m from it. For a raid to count, the raider must cross the baulk line completely (both feet, or a foot with the rest of the body across); a raider who returns without doing so and without touching a defender is out. One metre beyond the baulk line is the bonus line, which is only 'live' when the defending team has six or seven players on the mat — crossing it correctly earns the raider a bonus point.
The lobbies
The strips along each long side of the court, one metre wide, are the lobbies. They are out of bounds until the raider touches a defender or a defender touches the raider — the moment a struggle begins, the lobbies become part of the playing area, giving the raider an escape corridor along the sides. A player who enters a lobby before any contact is simply out.
Sitting block
Players who are out wait in a designated area beyond the court (the sitting block) in the order they went out, because that order decides who is revived first.
Teams, players and positions
Each team fields seven players, with substitutes on the bench; substitutions are allowed at stoppages but an out player cannot be substituted back on — only revival returns them. Though everyone raids and defends in principle, professional teams specialise: raiders score touch points, defenders anchor the tackle chain, and all-rounders do both.
The defensive chain
Defenders line up in a rough arc: 'corners' at the two ends nearest the mid line, 'covers' in the middle of the chain, with raiders slotting in between when their team defends. Corners specialise in ankle holds and blocks from the flanks; covers specialise in thigh holds and dashes from the centre. Defenders often link hands to tackle as a chain.
The raid
Teams raid alternately. The raider must cross the mid line into the opponents' half, attempt to score, and return across the mid line to safety. The raid ends when the raider returns, is tackled, is declared out for a violation, or runs out of time. Only one raider may go at a time, and defenders may not cross the mid line to attack the raider's half.
The cant
The raider must continuously and audibly chant 'kabaddi, kabaddi' for the entire raid — this is the cant, and by rule it must be sustained in a single breath. Losing the cant, starting it late, or pausing it while in the opponents' half means the raider is out. The cant is the sport's signature: it is the built-in timer that originally limited how long a raider could stay in enemy territory.
The 30-second raid clock
Modern competitions, led by the Pro Kabaddi League, cap every raid at 30 seconds regardless of breath. If the clock expires before the raider crosses back, the raider is out. The clock keeps raids urgent and stops raiders from stalling against a cautious defence.
What counts as a touch
Any contact between the raider and a defender puts that defender at risk — a hand touch, a kick, a toe touch at full stretch, or brushing a defender while escaping. Every defender touched during the raid is out if the raider then reaches their own half safely. The raider's escape is complete once they cross the mid line with contact to their own half.
Defending and the tackle
Defenders score by preventing the raider's return: holding the raider until the raid clock or breath runs out, pinning them down, or forcing them fully out of bounds. A successful tackle is worth one point and the raider is out. Defenders must not use illegal means such as deliberately grabbing the raider's clothing or hair, or scissoring the raider's body with their legs in a dangerous way — such fouls concede a point.
Core tackle skills
The classic tackles are the ankle hold (diving grab of the raider's ankle), thigh hold (locking a thigh as the raider turns), back hold (wrapping the raider's waist or back from behind), dash (shoving the raider over the boundary or lobby line), block (planting the body in the raider's escape path), and the chain tackle (two or more defenders holding hands and converging together).
Super tackle
When a defence is down to three or fewer players, a successful tackle is a super tackle worth two points instead of one. The extra point rewards the risk of defending short-handed, but it revives only one defender — the bonus half of the point brings nobody back.
The struggle
The moment there is contact between raider and defenders, a struggle is on: the lobbies open up as playing area, and the raider may fight, spin, roll or crawl toward the mid line. If any part of the raider reaches their own half — even a fingertip across the mid line while the body is held — the raid is successful and every touched or struggling defender is out.
Bonus point
The bonus line rewards raiders for going deep against a full defence. With six or more defenders on the mat, a raider who crosses the bonus line — lead foot grounded beyond the line while the trailing foot is still off the ground — earns one bonus point, awarded whether or not they score touches afterwards. The point stands even if the raider is then tackled (in which case the defence also gets its tackle point). Bonus points do not revive teammates, and no bonus is available once the defence drops to five or fewer players.
Out, revival and the all out
Players declared out leave the mat and sit in order. Revival is strictly first-out, first-back: each touch point revives one out player of the raiding team, and each tackle point revives one out defender. Bonus points and all-out points score but revive no one. This loop — losing bodies, buying them back — is the strategic core of kabaddi.
All out (lona)
When every player of a team has been put out, the opposing team scores two extra points (the all out, traditionally called a lona) and all seven of the wiped-out team return to the mat. Play resumes at full strength, but the two-point swing plus the points that emptied the mat often decides matches.
Common ways to be out
A raider is out for being successfully tackled, losing the cant, exceeding the raid clock, stepping fully out of bounds outside a struggle, or failing to cross the baulk line on a raid with no touch. A defender is out for being touched by a raider who escapes, stepping out of bounds, entering a lobby before contact, or crossing the mid line into the raider's half during a raid.
Empty raids and do-or-die
A raid in which the raider crosses the baulk line but returns without a touch point or bonus point is an empty raid — legal, but it builds pressure. If a team records two empty raids in a row, its third raid is a do-or-die raid: the raider must score a touch or bonus point, or be declared out, handing the defence a point (and a revival). A successful scoring raid resets the empty-raid count. Do-or-die raids create the tensest moments in a match, because the raider cannot simply retreat and the defence knows it.
Match duration and deciding a winner
A senior men's match is two halves of 20 minutes with a five-minute break; teams change ends at half-time (women's internationals have traditionally used shorter halves). Each side has a limited number of 30-second time-outs, and the clock stops for injuries and reviews in professional play. The team with more points at full time wins.
Tie-breakers and the golden raid
League-stage matches in the Pro Kabaddi League can end tied, with points shared. In knockouts, a tie triggers a tie-breaker of five raids per team under attacking rules; if still level, play goes to a sudden-death golden raid, with a coin toss deciding who raids first and the first decisive raid settling the match.
Officials, cards and fouls
Matches are controlled by a referee supported by umpires, a scorer and assistant scorers; top competitions add TV reviews for line calls and touches. Discipline uses cards: a green card is a warning, a yellow card temporarily suspends a player (with the team playing short), and a red card means ejection from the match. Technical points can be awarded for persistent violations such as delaying raids, illegal holds, or coaching interference.
Glossary — 38 terms
Stats decoded
| Stat | Unit | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Raid points | points | Total points a player scores while raiding — touch points plus bonus points. The headline stat for raiders; PKL's best raiders clear 200 raid points in a season, and 1,000+ career raid points marks an all-time great. |
| Tackle points | points | Points earned by a player from successful tackles, including the two-pointers from super tackles. The core measure of a defender; elite corners and covers reach 70-90 tackle points in a PKL season. |
| Total points | points | Raid points plus tackle points for a player (or team). The best single number for comparing all-rounders, whose value is split across both phases. |
| Raid success rate | % | Percentage of a raider's raids that produce at least one point. It separates volume raiders from efficient ones — a raider above roughly 50% is converting every second raid, which is elite over a full season. |
| Tackle success rate | % | Percentage of a defender's tackle attempts that succeed. High-volume defenders in the 45-55% range are outstanding; a high rate on low attempts can just mean a cautious defender, so read it alongside total tackles. |
| Super 10s | matches | Number of matches in which a raider scored 10+ raid points. Counts dominant individual performances the way centuries do in cricket; the league's top raiders log Super 10s in half their matches or more. |
| High 5s | matches | Number of matches in which a defender recorded 5+ tackle points. Rarer than Super 10s because tackle opportunities are fewer, so even a handful in a season indicates a top-tier defender. |
| Super raids | raids | Raids in which the raider scored 3+ points. A measure of explosiveness rather than consistency — super raids remove multiple defenders at once and often precede all outs. |
| Super tackles | tackles | Successful tackles made with three or fewer defenders on the mat, each worth two points. A stat for clutch defending, since every super tackle is a stop made under maximum pressure. |
| Not-out percentage | % | Share of a raider's raids from which they returned safely without being tackled or declared out. It measures survival skill and risk management: a raider with a high not-out percentage keeps their team at full strength even on empty raids. |
| Do-or-die raid points | points | Points scored on do-or-die raids, where failing to score means being out. The clearest available proxy for clutch raiding, since the defence knows the raider must commit. |
| Average raid points per match | points/match | Raid points divided by matches played. Normalises for season length and injuries when comparing raiders; the very best sustain averages around 10 or more per match. |
| Bonus points | points | Points scored by crossing the bonus line against a six- or seven-player defence. High bonus counts identify technically sharp raiders who can score without contact and defuse do-or-die pressure cheaply. |
| All outs inflicted | count | Times a team wiped out all seven opponents. Each all out is worth two bonus points plus the scoring run that produced it, so this team stat correlates strongly with wins and points difference. |
Quick answers
Why do kabaddi players keep saying 'kabaddi kabaddi'?
The chant is called the cant, and it is a rule, not a ritual. A raider must repeat 'kabaddi, kabaddi' continuously and audibly for the whole raid, traditionally to prove they are doing it all in a single breath — the original limit on how long a raider could stay in the opponents' half. If the cant stops while the raider is in enemy territory, the raider is out. Professional leagues like the PKL keep the cant but add a 30-second raid clock as the practical timer.
How does scoring work in kabaddi?
The raider scores one point for every defender they touch, provided they get back across the mid line without being caught, and every touched defender is out. The defence scores one point by tackling the raider before they return (two points as a super tackle if the defence had three or fewer players on the mat). A raider can also take one bonus point by crossing the bonus line when six or more defenders are on court. Wiping out all seven opponents is an all out, worth two extra points, after which the full team returns. Most points also revive out players, one per point, in the order they went out.
What is a do-or-die raid in kabaddi?
If a team's raiders return empty-handed on two consecutive raids, their third raid becomes a do-or-die raid. The raider must score at least one touch point or bonus point; if they fail, they are automatically declared out and the defence earns a point plus a revival. Scoring on any raid resets the empty-raid count. The rule exists to prevent stalling, and because the defence knows the raider cannot retreat, do-or-die raids are among the most dramatic moments in a match.
What is a super raid and what is a super tackle?
A super raid is a single raid worth three or more points — any combination of touch points and a bonus point — which removes several defenders at once and revives up to three teammates. A super tackle is a successful tackle made when the defending side has only three or fewer players left on the mat, and it is worth two points instead of one. Both are risk-reward rules: the super raid rewards a raider for attacking a crowded defence, the super tackle rewards a skeleton defence for going for the stop instead of conceding ground.
What does 'all out' mean in kabaddi?
An all out happens when every one of a team's seven players has been declared out. The opposing team scores two extra points on top of the points that emptied the mat, and the wiped-out team's seven players all return to restart at full strength. In older terminology this is called a lona. All outs are kabaddi's biggest momentum swings — a team that inflicts two or three of them almost always wins.
How long is a kabaddi match?
A senior men's match in the standard style, including the Pro Kabaddi League, is played over two halves of 20 minutes with a five-minute half-time break, so about 45-50 minutes of scheduled play (women's internationals have traditionally used shorter halves). The clock stops for time-outs, injuries and reviews, so a televised PKL match typically fits inside an hour. Every individual raid within the match is limited to 30 seconds.
What is the bonus point in kabaddi?
The bonus point rewards a raider for penetrating deep against a full defence. When the defending team has six or seven players on the mat, a raider who crosses the bonus line — the line one metre beyond the baulk line — with their lead foot grounded beyond it and the trailing foot still in the air scores one point, even if they never touch a defender. The point stands even if the raider is tackled afterwards, but it does not revive any teammate, and it is unavailable once the defence is down to five or fewer players.
What is the difference between standard style and circle style kabaddi?
Standard style is the version played on a rectangular mat with seven players a side, the revival system, baulk and bonus lines, and all outs — it is what you see in the Pro Kabaddi League, the Kabaddi World Cup and the Asian Games. Circle style, dominant in Punjab and its diaspora, is played on a circular field where each raid is a one-on-one contest between the raider and a single designated stopper, with no revivals. The two styles have separate rulebooks, separate stars and separate World Cups.
How many players are on a kabaddi team?
Seven players per team are on the court at any time, with substitutes available on the bench — Pro Kabaddi League matchday squads carry twelve. Substitutions are allowed at stoppages, but a player who has been declared out cannot be substituted; only revival (a teammate scoring a touch or tackle point) or an all out reset brings out players back onto the mat.