It was not meant to happen, but it did and it surely is much of an eye opener for the India kabaddi team not to get complacent. India lost to minnows South Korea in the opening match of the Kabaddi World Cup 2016 on Friday, in what was a major upset in the history of the tournament.
The away side made use of Indian defensive errors to seize the moment and record a 34-32 victory in Ahmedabad. India captain Anup Kumar did pick up eight points for his team in the match, but he was overshadowed by Jang Kun Lee, of Bengal Warriors fame in the Pro Kabaddi, who made a stunning comeback in the end to inspire his side in clinching a historic win.
READ: India squad for Kabaddi World Cup 2016 | Tournament schedule
India take on Australia on Saturday in their second match of the tournament and it is time that the likes of Anup, Rahul Chaudhary and Dharamaraj Cheralathan have to do all the talking with their performances at the TranStadia.
Australia, meanwhile, will not be an easy opponent by any means. When it comes to strength and power, the Indians are a little to less match to the Aussies. The Australia Kabaddi team captain Campbell Brown is actually a former AFL (Australian Football League) defender who is much praised for his natural strength.
"We have played among ourselves. The team has many former AFL professionals. We have been training really hard for a month,'' Campbell was quoted as saying by the Hindu. The Australian team, interestingly, is coached by Navneet Gautam, a prominent player of the Pro Kabaddi side Jaipur Pink Panthers, and Telugu Titans coach Srinivas Reddy.
Schedule
India vs Australia is scheduled for a 9 pm IST (4:30 pm BST, 9:30 am EST) start on October 8.
Where to watch live
INDIA: TV - Star Sports 2/HD, Star Sports 3/HD. Live streaming - Hotstar.
USA: TV - Fox Sports. Live streaming - Fox Sports Go.
UK: TV - Sky Sports. Live streaming - Watch Sky Sports.
