India Begin Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship Campaign Against Malaysia and England in Ahmedabad

When India’s women take the mat against Malaysia at 6:45 PM on Friday at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Ahmedabad, the men’s team will follow at 8:30 PM against England. These two matches will provide the first indication of India’s position at the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship. Nidhi Sharma will captain the women’s team, while Surjeet Singh will lead the men’s side.

The tournament will begin at 11:00 AM with Kenya facing Singapore in a men’s Group B match. Scheduled from October 23 to October 31, the nine-day championship will bring together 23 teams from 13 nations for 62 matches. The men’s competition will account for 39 fixtures and the women’s competition for 23.

Years of watching training grounds and match schedules together have taught me one thing: the value of an opening match is not decided only by the result. The first day shows how a team handles energy, substitutions and pressure. That will be India’s first real examination in Ahmedabad.

What the schedule reveals

The men’s competition has 13 teams divided into two groups. Group A contains India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Uganda, England, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. Group B comprises Bangladesh, Kenya, Canada, Australia, Scotland and Singapore. The groups are unequal in size, which means the Group A teams will play six league matches, while Group B teams will complete five matches before the semifinal race is decided.

India’s men face a demanding sequence. After opening against England, India will play Uganda on October 24, Malaysia on October 25, Nigeria on October 26, Tanzania on October 27 and Sri Lanka on October 29. Based on the published schedule, October 28 becomes an important recovery and preparation day between matches. In a six-match league campaign, building an early advantage will matter, but managing the load on key players will matter just as much.

India’s 14-member men’s squad includes vice-captain Naveen Kumar, Sachin Tanwar, Pankaj Mohite, Bharat Hooda, Shubham Shinde and Parvesh Bhainswal. Under Surjeet Singh, the challenge will extend beyond collecting points. India must build a defensive rhythm that can survive six matches against opponents with different styles.

The women’s competition has 10 teams across two groups of five. India is in Group A with Singapore, Nigeria, Uganda and Malaysia. Group B features Bangladesh, Kenya, England, Scotland and Sri Lanka. After Malaysia, India will face Singapore on October 24, Uganda on October 25 and Nigeria on October 26.

The women’s side, captained by Nidhi Sharma, includes vice-captain Ritu, Muskan Sharma, Riya Kumari, Simran Kamboj and Karthika Ramesh. India will play four group matches in the women’s competition. The interval before the semifinals gives the team time to prepare, although it does not automatically create an advantage. With fewer matches, every mistake can affect the standings more quickly.

India’s first test is control

The men should avoid revealing their entire tournament plan against England. In a nine-day championship, the first match is valuable because it shows how the team understands its bench, defensive combinations and raiding order. If India keeps its main players on the mat for too long while chasing a large opening margin, the effect may surface during the sequence from October 24 to October 27.

I have often seen matches tell one story during the first ten minutes and another during the final five, when fatigue begins to alter decisions. That difference is especially important in kabaddi because a failed raid must be followed by an immediate defensive reset. Against England, the real signal will be the balance between bonus attempts, safe returns and tackles. The margin will appear on the scoreboard, but the quality of the performance will be visible in the possessions where India prepared its next defensive position before taking a risk.

India has six league matches in Group A. That requires the team to read the competition in phases instead of playing every match at the same intensity. England is followed by Uganda and Malaysia, then Nigeria, Tanzania and Sri Lanka. As opponents change, the depth of raids, defensive angles and match tempo may change as well. A clear substitution plan could therefore be more valuable than relying on the same starting combination in every match.

Shubham Shinde and Parvesh Bhainswal will have important defensive responsibilities in this structure. Across consecutive matches, defence depends on more than strength. Communication, cover distance and the time needed to recover after a failed tackle are equally significant. Naveen Kumar, Sachin Tanwar and Pankaj Mohite can provide India with different raiding options in different match situations. The management will have to account for minutes as carefully as points.

For the women, the opening match against Malaysia presents a different test. India must decide whether to increase the attacking tempo or use longer possessions to test the opponent’s patience. Singapore, Uganda and Nigeria follow in quick succession. The purpose of the early matches will be to establish a semifinal position and develop a combination in which the entire squad contributes around its main players.

Ritu’s role as vice-captain, along with the presence of Muskan Sharma, Riya Kumari, Simran Kamboj and Karthika Ramesh, gives India an opportunity to distribute responsibility across the group. The published squad indicates that the campaign should not depend on one leading name. Since the top two teams qualify for the semifinals, a small mistake in the group stage could change the final-four picture.

The pressure inside the semifinal race

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semifinals on October 30. The women’s and men’s finals will be played on October 31. This schedule divides the championship into two sections: the accumulation of league results from October 23 to October 27 and the knockout phase that follows. India’s objective should be more than finishing in the top two. The team must reach the semifinals in a physical and mental condition that prevents league-stage fatigue from influencing decisions.

I have seen many times on training grounds that a team’s strongest day does not always become its best tournament. Practice can produce fast raids and powerful tackles, but a nine-day event measures how quickly players recover their structure after a poor start. A training ground tells the truth, but the tournament tests that truth.

The championship is also being viewed in the context of Ahmedabad preparing to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games. Organised by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India with the approval of the International Kabaddi Federation, the event’s success will not be measured only by India’s results. Team movement, match operations, equal presentation for the women’s and men’s competitions, and the spectator experience will also form part of the wider examination.

The larger picture extends beyond India’s medal

It is natural to view the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship as a home event in India’s medal campaign. Its significance also lies in how 13 nations present kabaddi through their own sporting systems. The opening men’s match between Kenya and Singapore, the presence of Australia, Canada and Scotland in Group B, and the two groups of five in the women’s competition point to the sport’s wider geographic reach.

From outside, India’s path to the top two in both groups may appear straightforward. That assumption creates its own risk. A single missed super tackle, a poorly timed bonus attempt or a late defensive error against an opponent considered weaker can change the standings. India’s experience at the 2026 Asian Games showed that reputation cannot replace studying an opponent’s style. Here too, India’s success will depend on how seriously it reads each team’s pace and contact patterns.

A fan log often reveals something before the score does: which player’s return supporters are asking about, which defensive combination they are discussing and which matchup they do not understand. The Ahmedabad crowd will write a second report of the championship. For India, however, the most reliable report will not be the table after the final league match. It will be the sequence of decisions across six men’s matches and four women’s matches.

The next signal

India will need to understand its schedule rather than rely on its reputation to reach the October 30 semifinals. The first possession for the women against Malaysia and the first defensive cycle for the men against England may indicate the direction of the campaign. The October 31 finals will decide the medals, but Ahmedabad will ask an earlier question: can India manage its players’ energy and responsibilities as carefully as it manages their ability?