India invites Pak kabaddi players for GKL: Rana Sarwar

LAHORE: The chances of Pakistan players’ participation in India’s upcoming Global Kabaddi League (GKL) are quite bright and we hope that Pakistan kabaddi players will exhibit their kabaddi skills on Indian soil in the coming weeks; this was stated by Secretary General Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) Rana Muhammad Sarwar in an exclusive telephonic conversation with ‘The News’ on Saturday.

Rana Sarwar informed that International Coordinator of GKL Santokh Singh Mander approached PKF and invited Pakistan players to feature in circle style Global Kabaddi League scheduled to be held in three cities of Indian Punjab – Jalandhar, Mohali and Ludhiana from Oct 14 to Nov 3, 2018.

‘Receiving an invitation from Global Kabaddi League official is definitely a major development and obviously this kind of developments are imperative for the true growth of this game in the subcontinent’, he added.

Rana Sarwar said Santokh Singh has termed Pakistan players as big attraction in the 2018 edition of Global Kabaddi League. “We have sent data of our 20 top players to GKL, however, the participation of our players in this global event is subject to clearance from government,” he informed. Rana Sarwar, a retired lieutenant from Pakistan Navy, expressed his hope that both Pakistan and Indian govts will play their due role for the restoration of kabaddi and other sporting ties between the two countries. “Our kabaddi players will get valuable professional experience and huge financial benefit by playing in the GKL. The international events like GKL can play major role in further popularsing the game of kabaddi in the region,” he added.

Answering a query, Rana Sarwar told that Iranian kabaddi players have also been invited to play in GKL. “Iran has improved a lot in the kabaddi field in recent years and now they are considered as a major force in world kabaddi,” he said.

Rana Sarwar informed that he has the honour of introducing the game of kabaddi in Iran in the ’90s. “Besides Iran, I also coached Sri Lanka, Muscat and Turkmenistan kabaddi teams in the past”.

Replying a question about kabaddi’s rapid growth at international level, Rana Sarwar, who played over 300 international matches during his illustrious career spanning from 1979 to 2004, said kabaddi is an exciting and thrilling game. Literally, it got amazing popularity in the world. “The swift fame of kabaddi can be gauged from the fact that Korean kabaddi team featured in the final of Asian Games in Indonesia in recent weeks”.

Rana Sarwar, who is also Secretary General of Asian Kabaddi Federation, said Pakistan also has plenty of kabaddi talent. “Our team can produce even better results in international events if it is given sufficient opportunities to play against India and other leading teams of the world”.

Responding a question about Pakistan’s sports future especially in the tenure of sports legend Prime Minister Imran Khan, Rana Sarwar said: “Imran himself had been a top star of his era and he knows the problems of Pakistan sports and players. We are quite confident that Pakistan will regain its lost sports glory during Imran’s era due to his merit-based measures”.