Kabaddi is being played in the sub-continent for centuries. Many theories suggest that the game was first played in the Southern part of India and spread across the region. 

When Bangladesh was formed in the 1970s, Prime Minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was asked to decide on national symbols for the new country. 

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Back then, in 1972, football was big in Bangladesh while cricket was the winter sport, both part of the sporting culture from the days of the Raj. Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was himself an avid footballer in his youth while his eldest son, Sheikh Kamal, was a cricketer.

However, one of the surprising decisions he took was to name Kabaddi – not football, nor cricket – as the national sport of Bangladesh. It’s possible that there was a need to promote a sport that broke with the colonial past and had roots in the country. 

On being asked as to why Kabaddi, known as Ha-du-du in Bangladesh, was named the national sport, Bangladesh’s most decorated played, Abdul Jalil said,” This was an easy game to understand, and it was what the farmers played in the villages during Eid and (Durga) Puja, and other festivities. Prizes included cattle, radio, rice…The sport is part of our culture. Ha-du-du had wide participation.” 

Bangladesh has won silver in the 1990, 1994, and 2002 Asian Games, and bronze in 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014 editions. They have also won silver in the South Asian Games in 1985, 1987, and 1995 while in the Asian Championship, they have got second place in 1980 and 1989. In the World Cup, they were third in 2004 and 2007; the women also earned the third spot in the 2012 World Cup. Essentially the best team after India.