The blue swarm knew not of contested possessions as it closed in on the former AFL midfielder Josh Kennedy. His crew of recently retired colleagues, dubbed the Aussie Raiders, were struggling to stay in touch with the Pro Kabaddi All Stars. So when the opposing mass grabbed, gripped and grappled the greying former Swan late in the match on Saturday night in Melbourne, the crowd knew the contest was over.
But this exhibition at John Cain Arena, of a discipline behind only cricket among India’s most popular sports, was an occasion at which the scoreboard didn’t matter. The few thousand fans who showed up had no attachment to the Raiders or All Stars, nor the Mavericks and Masters who played the curtain-raiser.
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Many of them had never seen the sport at all, and were left to fend for themselves in a deep dive into an Indian pastime rich in tradition, athleticism and cunning. Most attendees would have gone home impressed, though this night held greater significance. Not only for the Victorian government, which bankrolled an initiative that has been years in planning. Officials hope tens of millions of Indians were watching the broadcast back home, and slowly coming to realise that a trip to Melbourne might be just the thing.
This was the culmination of a day that celebrated the symbiosis between the two countries. Across Melbourne’s eastern train line earlier on Saturday, more than 83,000 fans piled into the MCG for the third day of the Boxing Day Test between India and Australia. This was a spectacular turnout and eclipsed every third day’s tally in Melbourne since 1937, when Don Bradman finished 56 not out at stumps against England.
The MCG’s total attendance record for a Boxing Day Test is 271,000, set in 2013, again against the old enemy. That mark will be passed on Sunday, as Pat Cummins’ side looks to reassert its advantage over opposition that now stands alongside England as the most compelling for Australian audiences.
Channel Seven reported that Boxing Day was the biggest day one of a cricket Test ever for the network. This is the first five-Test series between the two countries since 1992, and was the driver behind the $400m that Disney Star paid Cricket Australia for broadcast rights into India. Last year almost 190,000 Indian visitors spent more than $480m in Victoria, making India the state’s second largest market for international spending behind China.
At the kabaddi exhibition, the sporting connections across the Indian Ocean were prominent. Alongside India’s former all-rounder Irfan Pathan in commentary was Australian Shane Watson, who has spent much of his retirement in Indian cricket and business circles.
Watching on was the outgoing Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley – who has realigned the game to capitalise on the sub-continent’s opportunities – as well as intrigued local AFL and tennis officials, state government representatives and even the assistant foreign minister, Tim Watts, who tossed the coin to start proceedings.
After an introductory video, which the MC admitted was “information overload”, the ruckus began. The evening’s noise was relentless, chants of “ka-bad-di” in escalating pitch during raids, songs over the PA, the MC and officials stuffing the crowd with yet more information. The effect was a relentless tempo, like a basketball game with no breaks for free throws.
The opening match was a see-sawing struggle between the Mavericks and the Masters, two teams made up of current and recently retired players from the ten-year-old Pro Kabaddi League. Over 40 minutes the teams alternate so-called “raiding”, where a single player is tasked with venturing into enemy territory and tagging opponents, then making it back home.
Much of the crowd knew that already. Victoria is home to 260,000 people who were born in India, and more than 370,000 Victorians have some Indian ancestry. At least half the attendees at John Cain Arena appeared to have South Asian backgrounds, and they were quick to express their delight at a daring raid or brutal tackle.
Amid the rhythms of players, hand-in-hand, sweeping left and right to avoid and then trap an opposing player, the wily Masters captain Anup Kumar immediately stood out. The 41-year-old was often the player to clutch a raider’s foot to stall their retreat, and added theatre in claiming touches or reaching his own territory with an economy of movement. Maninder Singh – captain of the Bengal Warriorz – drew the loudest applause for escaping three tacklers. Yet the Mavericks, led by former India captain Ajay Thakur, held on to win in the dying seconds.
The Australians might have felt some hope when these same Indian players changed quickly and returned to the mat for a second outing, this time as the All Stars. But the gulf in class between the sides was immediately apparent. A preference for physicality over strategy cursed the naive Australians early on, and they trailed 22-5 midway through the first half.
Their opponents eased up for the remainder of a respectful contest that finished 48-25 to the All Stars. Then a line of handshakes, embraces and jersey swaps ended Melbourne’s kabaddi experiment, ultimately more of a serenade than a raid.
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