Things that you need to know if you are a raider fan

Kabaddi is a game where one raid can change the whole game. As raider scores more points through his raids, he always gets more attention from the viewers. In Kabaddi, though strong defense is required to win you match people always talk more about records done by a raider. In Pro Kabaddi League, raiders like Ajay Thakur, Pardeep Narwal, Rahul Chaudhari are more famous than defenders Surender Nada, Mohit Chhillar.

Raid is a part of the game where raider enters the opponent’s half to score raid point by touching the opponent defender present on the mat. When raider crosses the black line in the opponent’s court a raid becomes a valid raid. Before crossing the mid-line a player must start chant ‘Kabaddi’ withholding his breath till he returns to his home court.

Skill, tactics, counteraction, ability to judge the situation, extricate himself from difficult situations and above all good footwork is required to score points. There is no specified side from which a raider starts his raid. Left raider starts raid from his left side, right raider starts raid from his right side whereas some raiders have the ability to raid from both sides.

In Pro Kabaddi league a raid is of 30 seconds.

Here are the different techniques to score raid points in Kabaddi :

1) Bonus

Bonus line is active when there are 6 or 7 defenders in the court. A raider is required to cross the bonus line, place with his one foot inside the bonus line and the other one in the air without grounding outside the area. Bonus points do not get a revival in the Kabaddi. Jaipur Pink Panthers’ Anup Kumar is said to be ‘Bonus Ka Badshah’ due to his perfect execution of Bonus in the game.

2) Hand Touch 

When a raider touches defender with his hands a touch is said to be hand touch. This requires good reflexes by raider. Raider gets a swift touch on defender’s arm, chest, shoulder or across the chest. Running hand touch, topping hand touch, turning hand touch, hopping hand touch and Feint & touch are the types of hand touch. But out of these, only running hand touch is used commonly. Ajay Thakur of Tamil Thalaivas, Rahul Chaudhari of Telugu Titans are running hand touch specialists.

3) Toe Touch

Toe touch is the move effective is bonus line games which requires agility and good reflexes by the raider. Raider touches defender with his toe from a safe distance without going near the defender. Flexible lower body with a long stretch of legs at perfect timing needs to do toe touch successfully. Anup Kumar has from Jaipur Pink Panthers is a perfect example of execution toe touch.

4) Back Kick/ Scorpion Kick 

Raider uses Kick by maintaining distance from defenders, confuses the defense and makes a surprise attack on the left or right-in player or cover defender. Raider keeps moving fast, bends down on one knee, snaps the other leg back towards an opponent’s chest or face. When there is less number of defenders on the mat this move is useful. Jasvir Singh from Tamil Thalaivas is master of ‘Scorpion Kick’.

5) Side Kick

Sidekick is mostly used by raider while raiding to kick defender mostly positioned at corner defenders. Raider kicks the defender without bending down on the knee in standing position. Nitin Tomar of Puneri Paltan mostly uses sidekick in his raiding.

6) Frog Jump

In this, a raider uses both his legs and jumps from mat over a defender just like a frog springing through its rear legs. To execute a frog jump the raider rests his hands on the back of a defender and jumps almost 4-5 feet in the air, bounces, and returns safely. This requires perfect timing and force to jump over the defenders. Ajay Thakur of Tamil Thalaivas has made the frog jump his signature move. Sandeep Narwal of Puneri Paltan and Meraj Sheykh of Dabang Delhi K.C. also uses jump as their weapon.

7) Lion Jump

Lion jump is same as the frog jump with a slight difference. In frog jump, a raider rests his hands on the back of a defender and jumps whereas in lion jump raider jumps over the defender without resting his hands or taking any support. Former Indian Kabaddi Team captain Rakesh Kumar has huge success rate by executing frog jump. In India, lion jump is also known as ‘Hanuman Jump’.

8) Dubki

Dubki is opposite to a Jump. Dubki is the move where there are 1 or 2 chains of defenders and the raider bends down to his body, returns safely to his court. Agility and speed are essential to use Dubki successfully. Pardeep Narwal is famously known as ‘Dubki King’ as it has become his signature move. He has highest raid success rate when he uses dubki.