The rugby union, which organised the new Super League, is now hoping to lure kabaddi players to increase the quality of the national team. PHOTO: AFP
In a country where anything other than cricket struggles to get a look in, the Pakistan Rugby Union (PRU) has grown since it was founded 10 years ago and now boasts more than 3,000 players. And after the launch of a new ‘Super League’ last month, PRU President Fawzi Khawaja said he now hopes to tap the reservoir of kabaddi talent.
The traditional team sport is very popular, particularly in Punjab, and last year Pakistan were winners of the Asia Cup and runners-up in the World Cup against arch-rivals India.
But Khawaja said that while there were national-level kabaddi players in the police rugby team, it was hard to lure people.
“If and when we can graduate to paying our players I’m sure we can attract a lot of kabaddi players,” said Khawaja.
The new ‘Super League’
The league started on a sunny Sunday in Lahore. The posts were lengths of bamboo taped to football goals and the groundsmen were still painting lines 10 minutes before kick-off.
The opening round pitted the Army team against Lahore and Islamabad against DHA. While the Lahore-Army clash showed some early-season rustiness, fumbles and tactical naivety, the game was also packed with blood-curdling tackles and a suspected dislocated shoulder. The Army’s superior fitness helped them come from behind to win 12-8.
Proper structure needed
The national side were relegated to the fourth tier of the Asian Five Nations tournament last year but the PRU hopes that by replacing ad-hoc club matches with the Super League will spark resurgence.
“We found that we had not much of a benchmark when we were trying to judge performance,” PRU Secretary Arif Saeed said. “Players had skills but it’s only how they perform in matches that tells you how they will do under pressure.”
Rugby in Pakistan dates back to the 1920s but still gets virtually no TV airtime. There are 25 registered clubs in Pakistan, and Khawaja said the PRU wants to take the solid base of the existing crop of players to the next level.
“What we want to see is improvement in performance, not just increase in numbers.”
But funding is tight and it is not cheap attracting foreign coaches to Pakistan, where security is a constant worry.
Two foreign coaches worked with the national team in 2011 and 2012 but only stayed for a few months.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2013.
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Pakistan has a good Kabbadi team which can play an important role in the building of our Rubgy team. Hope we can build up a solid foundation for it.
I am a big rugby enthusiast and wish PTV sports give this great sport some air time.