Know how ancient Indian sport of kabaddi is gaining popularity

   
Kabaddi has always been popular in India -- Mumbai alone has 200 amateur clubs -- but Indians never seemed to consider it worthy of major league attention. Although played at the Asian Games, where India has won every kabaddi competition since it was introduced and is again the favorite when the event kicks off in Incheon, South Korea, this week, there has never been a commercial outlet for it.
   
"The sport had gone, if I can use the term, underground," said Screwvala. "In fact, there was a fair amount of prejudice, where a lot of people thought, `Yes, it's our game but it's probably more of a rural game than anything else."'
   
Screwvala has built his league from scratch, inviting tycoons from India's business and showbiz elites to found teams. Squads were then created from an auction of 96 players, ranked by the national kabaddi federation which has formally endorsed the league.