Star raider Anup Kumar is all set to lead team India in next month’s Kabaddi Word Cup 2016 to be held in Ahmedabad. All the matches will be held at the brand new stadium “The Arena” developed by TransStadia. The 2016 Kabaddi world cup which is being organised by International Kabaddi Federation will get under way on October 7. There are a total of 12 teams participating in the event from across Olympic geographies which will be divided into 2 pools of 6 teams each.
The 12 teams featuring in the event are Iran, South Korea, Bangladesh, USA, England, Australia, Poland, Thailand, Japan, Argentina, Kenya and hosts India. The official logo of the event was unveiled by Shri Vijay Goel, Hon’ble Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports on 14th September. The symbol that is derived from heritage of Gujarat features an Asiatic lion symbolizing both agility and ferocity that is required in the game.
The Indian team jersey was unveiled by the cricketing Legend and the Captain of 1983 World Cup winning team, Kapil Dev. To motivate the team Kapil Dev also presented Anup with his autographed, colour T-shirt that he had worn against Australia when India played its first limited overs contest Down Under. Anup Kumar along with All-rounder Manjeet Chillar who will Anup’s deputy will have the responsibility of ensuring that the dominance which Indian Kabaddi has over the other teams is not challenged. Since the year 2010 Indian Kabaddi team has been able to stamp its authority winning all editions along the way.
Balwan Singh who is the head Coach of the squad is very confident of a splendid performance of his team at the same time he sounds aware of the competition that his team would be facing in Kabaddi World Cup 2016.
“The training camp hosted in Ahmedabad involved rigorous training that helped us select the right set of players for the Indian squad. Our aim is to have a balanced team composition for the upcoming World Cup,” said Balwan.
“We are expecting the tournament to be more competitive than ever this year. It will be the biggest challenge that the Indian team has faced in recent times.”
The squad: Anup Kumar (captain, Haryana), Ajay Thakur (Himachal Pradesh) Deepak Hooda (Haryana), Dharmaraj Cheralathan (Tamil Nadu), Jasvir Singh (Haryana), Kiran Parmar (Gujarat), Manjeet Chillar (vice-captain, Punjab), Mohit Chillar (Punjab), Nitin Tomar (Uttar Pradesh), Pardeep Narwal (Haryana), Rahul Chaudhari (Uttar Pradesh), Sandeep Narwal, Surender Nada, Surjeet (all from Haryana).
