Rules have been tweaked a bit to make the inaugural IPL-style Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League, commencing here from July 26, more exciting.
The opening encounter will see Delhi franchise lining up against Bangalore at the NSCI Stadium in Worli.
During the league, raiders will be governed by a 30- second 'raid clock' to eliminate time wasting tactics when leading. A raider, who enters the opposition's half in the presence of 6 or more defenders, will be awarded a bonus point, according to League organisers Mashal Sports.
To reward the defenders, the tournament organisers have introduced a 'super catch', wherein, if a raider gets trapped when up against only three defenders or less, the defending team will get an extra point.
To minimise the number of empty raids, the third consecutive empty raid by any team will result in the ouster of that raider, and a point will be awarded to the opposition.
In the scoring system during the league phase, teams will earn 5 points for a win and 3 points each for a tie. If the margin of loss is less than 7 points, then the losing team will be awarded one bonus point.
To accommodate the game's top stars, the weight limit has been raised from 80 to 85 kilograms, the organisers said.
The duration of each game will be as per tradition, 40 minutes, with a five-minute half time break.
Meanwhile, all the eight city-based franchises have begun to gear up for the big stage and the players are training vigorously and getting ready for the six-week caravan format league, spread across eight cities.
The other six city teams in fray are Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Patna, Jaipur and Vishakapatnam.
All eight franchises will be seen in action from July 26-29 in Mumbai, during seven scheduled games, before the kabaddi bandwagon shifts to Kolkata (July 30-August 2).
Later, Delhi (August 3-6), Patna (August 7-10), Pune (August 12-15), Vizag (August 16-19) and Jaipur (August 20-23) would host the subsequent games before the league phase ends with matches at Bangalore (August 24-27).
Bangalore is set to host the two semi finals on August 29 followed by the 3-4 placings game and the final, both on August 31.
