Team bonding will be crucial

With only a few days left for kabaddi's biggest ever spectacle to kick off, the extreme excitement levels of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi is reaching fever pitch. The coaches are trying out last minute permutations and combinations to make sure they get the blend just right. After all, in kabaddi, there is no margin for error. Points are won and lost in the blink of an eye. All the eight cities have started practising, on their brand new mats. Yes, the common intention is to win. But there is little doubt that all teams realise that they are pioneering something special.

For the teams, I feel it is all about coming together now, to understand individual strengths and weaknesses and tweak styles of play in a manner that the players complement each other well on the court. Since this is the first time in the history of kabaddi that international and national players are playing alongside each other, the coaches are going that extra mile to make sure that there is perfect communication between all the players in the team. With many different languages involved, for some teams, this is not an easy task.

Having introduced a whole new league format of the game, we were a little apprehensive about how the players and coaches would respond to it, but their keenness to accept kabaddi in its new avatar was a pleasant surprise and wiped away our concerns. Considering the caravan style format of the league, the home team will play a 'home' match on each of its four host days. In a high intensity, physical sport like kabaddi, that will be a severe test of endurance, injury management and bench strength. Shayamal Vallabh-jee. Managing Director of HEAL Institute, has already been roped in by the Bengaluru Bulls and the Jaipur Pink Panthers for lending a scientific approach to the teams' fitness and injury management.

Not just the coaches and the players, all the owners are also getting ready for this eight-week sporting extravaganza. Burning the midnight oil, all the team owners are ensuring that their teams have everything they need to perform when the day comes.