Kabaddi: ‘We’re aiming to beat Iran by 10-15 points this time’, says Ind skipper Sunil Kumar

Sunil Kumar

India has dominated kabaddi at the Asian Games, winning eight times across nine editions. The lone defeat was against Iran in the semi-finals at Jakarta in 2018. However, this time there will be no slip-up in India's gold medal hunt at Aichi-Nagoya (September 19 to October 4), assured skipper Sunil Kumar.

"We have a very strong team. The players, who did well in the selection trials and camp, have shown great fitness. This is a much better team than the one we had at the 2023 Asian Games [Hangzhou]. We are strong in both departments - attack and defence - with good raiders and some fine defenders," Sunil told mid-day from Ballari, Karnataka, where the team underwent a month-long camp.

Pawan Sehrawat led India to the gold medal at Hangzhou, beating Iran 33-29 in the final. Sunil, Sehrawat, Arjun Deshwal, and Aslam Inamdar, who were part of that team, are well prepared for Iran again.

"Iran has been playing very well since the last two Asian Games. We lost to them [18-27] in Jakarta. We came back strongly to win gold in 2023, but that was a tough fight too [33-29]. This time, we are aiming to win by a big margin of at least 10-15 points. We will definitely return with the gold," added Sunil.

Sunil, 29, is known for his cool and composed leadership, much like India's 2011 World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni. Explaining his calm approach, he said: "It's very important to keep a cool head during a tense game. A captain has to lead by example, and show the team what to do as per the situation."

The defender is a big fan of former India skipper Virat Kohli. "Look at his fitness level and discipline. For those reasons, I'm a big fan of Kohli," he concluded.