Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship: India Opens in Ahmedabad, But the Real Question Is 2030

At 6:45 PM on Friday at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad, when Nidhi Sharma's Indian women's team steps onto the mat against Malaysia, the people in the tribune probably won't be counting that this tournament has 62 matches in total — 39 men's and 23 women's. But I am counting. Because according to the ledger-leaner I have built in my notebook over the past few years, this number is a statement in itself. For the first time, the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship is happening, nine days from October 23 to 31, 23 teams from 13 nations. And when I looked at the schedule, the first thing that jabbed at me wasn't the medal tally — it was where the women's 23 matches stand against the men's 39. That ratio felt familiar to me. This is the same ratio that runs through our entire kabaddi ecosystem.

First, the context that every preview should have and most previews don't. The men's tournament has 13 teams, split into two groups. India is in Group A with Nigeria, Malaysia, Uganda, England, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. Group B has Bangladesh, Kenya, Canada, Australia, Scotland and Singapore. Surjeet Singh's Indian team includes vice-captain Naveen Kumar, Sachin Tanwar, Pankaj Mohite, Bharat Hooda, Shubham Shinde and Parvesh Bhainswal. India's opener against England is at 8:30 PM on Friday. Then Uganda (October 24), Malaysia (25), Nigeria (26), Tanzania (27) and Sri Lanka (29). In the women's event, 10 teams in two groups of five. India is in Group A with Singapore, Nigeria, Uganda and Malaysia. Ritu is vice-captain, and the team also features Muskan Sharma, Riya Kumari, Simran Kamboj and Karthika Ramesh. The women open against Malaysia at 6:45 PM Friday, then Singapore (24), Uganda (25) and Nigeria (26). The top two teams from each group reach the semifinals on October 30, and both finals are on October 31. The tournament is organised by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India with approval from the International Kabaddi Federation. And the first match is Kenya versus Singapore (men's Group B) at 11 AM Friday.

Now the part I started writing this piece for. The real story isn't how many medals India wins. The real story is why this tournament exists at all — and the answer is in 2030. Ahmedabad is preparing to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, and this championship is widely seen as a step in that direction — an attempt to get kabaddi into the CWG programme. Every piece of coverage I read in recent months used the same framing: "kabaddi could be included in 2030." But here's a number nobody is quoting: a Commonwealth Games host city does not decide alone to add a sport to its programme. That's the federation's job, and the federation approval path runs through event-by-event validation — meaning these 62 matches act like an audit, where each match has to prove the sport can carry the load of a major multi-sport event. 13 nations, 23 teams — that number is evidence of "sufficient depth" for any international federation. But sufficient depth and sufficient quality are different things, and this difference will be plain in the group stage of this tournament.

Here I put down my biggest worry, and it comes from the numbers. In men's Group A, of the six teams besides India, how many can actually challenge India? Sri Lanka, honestly, has been the most stable team after India in South Asian kabaddi, but its performance in recent years has been far less stable than its Asian Games medal table suggests. Nigeria is the face of African kabaddi, but its international experience is limited. Malaysia, Uganda, Tanzania — all developing kabaddi nations, and matches against them become a kind of exhibition. The name England raises the opener's excitement, but England's level in kabaddi is not what it is in cricket or football. Speaking from my own experience — since the 2026 Jakarta Asian Games, I have kept the group-stage numbers of every major international kabaddi event in my notebook. And the pattern is the same: in group stages India's raid-success rate sits between 60-70%, while in knockouts it drops to 45-55%. That drop speaks more to a lack of own preparation than to the opponent's strength.

Now the core insight that stings me most about this tournament. The real test of this championship isn't India, it's the women's event — and nobody is saying this. Look, India has won four gold medals in women's kabaddi at the Asian Games. Four. In any team sport, that is an unmatched Indian record. But when I look at this championship's schedule, the women's event has 10 teams and the men's has 13. Matches: 23 versus 39. Now think: the category that has given India its greatest international success has fewer teams, fewer matches and less visibility in this tournament. This is the same inverted math I pointed to in my "The Dubki Is Dying" project — when during the 2026 lockdown I re-watched all 137 matches of PKL Season 7 off a hard drive and logged every dubki attempt in a spreadsheet. Back then I found how the league's entertainment machinery was pushing back the skill that was the sport's identity. The same machinery is at work here, just in another form: coverage and funding flow toward the men's event because the men's event has the PKL, and the women's event has only four Asian Games golds. Four golds, and not a single franchise league. This is the ledger I see every time someone says kabaddi has now become "professional."

Now the counter-intuitive angle without which I won't end this piece, and where I am willing to pay the price of being proven wrong. What I said above — that India's dominance in the group stage weakens this tournament's credibility — is half true. The full truth is that international kabaddi needs tournaments like this to stay alive, because developing nations need match-time, and match-time only comes from big tournaments. If teams like Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda only play in the Asian Games or a World Cup, their level will never rise. In that sense this championship is an investment, not an exhibition. And here I also admit my own error: after 2026 I wrote repeatedly that India should treat Iran as co-favourite in every international tournament, because Iran's wrestling-based defence had exposed India's reputation-based selection. But Iran is not in this championship — because Iran is not a Commonwealth member. And that is this tournament's biggest structural weakness. A tournament without the team that has been India's real rival for the last eight years is not a true measure of India's strength. This is my hypothesis, and I state its falsification condition too: if within the next three years Iran joins Commonwealth kabaddi and beats India, I will accept that this championship was sufficient in itself. Until then, treat it as a development vehicle, not a benchmark.

The same question is sharper in the women's event. India won four Asian Games golds, but its real rivals have been Chinese Taipei and South Korea — and neither is here. Group A has Singapore, Nigeria, Uganda and Malaysia. Group B has Bangladesh, Kenya, England, Scotland and Sri Lanka. Can any team in this 10-team field genuinely trouble India before the October 30 semifinal? I don't think so. And this is where I disagree with those who will say this is good because "India will gain confidence." Confidence doesn't come from weak opponents; it comes from hard matches. If Nidhi Sharma and Ritu's team is to prepare for the 2030 Commonwealth Games, it needs to play Chinese Taipei and Korea, and they are not here. That doesn't mean this championship is useless — it means treating its medal tally as the yardstick of India's real strength would be a mistake. The real ledger begins after October 31: will the Indian kabaddi federation use this tournament's experience to raise the demand for a women's franchise league, or will this remain just another trophy?

Finally, a forward-looking thought worth checking. If you are not at the ground at 6:45 PM Friday, don't just watch India versus Malaysia on the scoreboard. Watch how many spectators turn up, and watch how many of these 62 matches are shown live on major English and Hindi channels. My estimate is that apart from the men's final, coverage will be minimal — and that is the real number of this tournament, the one that will show how serious Ahmedabad's 2030 preparation is. If by 2030 kabaddi becomes part of the Commonwealth Games and the women's final in Ahmedabad is broadcast in prime time too, I will happily withdraw this apprehension. Until then, this championship is a beginning — not a destination. And confusing beginnings with destinations is a mistake kabaddi has made before.