The blue swarm knew not of contested possessions as it closed in on the former AFL midfielder Josh Kennedy. His crew of recently retired colleagues, dubbed the Aussie Raiders, were struggling to stay in touch with the Pro Kabaddi All Stars. So when the opposing mass grabbed, gripped and grappled the greying former Swan late in the match on Saturday night in Melbourne, the crowd knew the contest was over.
But this exhibition at John Cain Arena, of a discipline behind only cricket among India’s most popular sports, was an occasion at which the scoreboard didn’t matter. The few thousand fans who showed up had no attachment to the Raiders or All Stars, nor the Mavericks and Masters who played the curtain-raiser.
