It’s a rainy afternoon at the Dharavi Sports Complex and a group of hijab-clad kabaddi players are warming up for a practice game against a local team.
The mood is light-hearted before head coach Shailaja Jain commands the attention of the room. Mrs. Jain — as the team calls her — spells out her instructions in Farsi. A seasoned coach from Nashik, Shailaja has been working with this Iran women’s team for the last seven years, and was at the helm of the side when it beat India to win gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
India and Iran are fierce rivals in the world of kabaddi, both in the men’s and women’s variants. In the men’s game, Ashan Kumar, who is now the Indian head coach, played an important role in helping the Iranians win silver at the Guangzhou Asiad in 2010. K.C. Suthar, another veteran Indian coach, was at the helm when Iran finished behind India in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup in Ahmedabad.
Suthar recommended Shailaja for the women’s team coaching gig.
“Initially, I had to get the house in order and then pick players who could fix the weak links and that’s how we slowly started rebuilding the team,” she says.
Shuttling between Tehran and Nashik, Shailaja has picked up Farsi quite fluently and to avoid her thoughts being lost in translation, she prefers communicating with the team in Farsi.
Following ‘Mrs. Jain’s’ orders, the girls get into ‘match mode’ and take their positions. The raiders dominate the show, ably supported by a relentless defence as the visitors snuff out any opportunity for their opponents, and clinch the game.
Crucial part
Ever since Iran won gold at the Asian Games in Jakarta five years ago, this side hasn’t featured in international tournaments. The COVID-19 pandemic’s outbreak three years ago meant no exposure trips have happened either. This Mumbai trip is, therefore, a crucial part of its preparation for the upcoming Asian Games.
“It is hard for us to aim for another gold medal because every other country has had proper practice and matches, whereas we haven’t had any,” Ghazal Khalaj, one of the senior players, tells The Hindu.
“We have been practising at home since January this year. This tour of Mumbai is important because it allows us to assess our team and help us in coming up with a strategy ahead of the Asian Games,” says raider Zahra Karimi.
“It would have been better for us had we been able to play against a few other countries as well, like Korea or Japan. Last time, we lost to China, so it would have been better for ups had we got a chance to play against a few teams there, but since we cannot travel to China, we are okay with playing in India,” says Khalaj. “These games have been relatively easy for us, but at least, these matches have given us a chance to get into match simulation. We haven’t played any tournaments for more than four years and have just had seven months of practice, so yeah, this is good for us.”
“Expectations will always be high, especially for the defending champions. I know that it’s not easy to win back-to-back gold medals, but if our target is fixed, then we have to overcome the challenges,” Shailaja says, “It’s also about the psychology and how you handle situations…”
When the pandemic shut the world done three years ago, many members of this Iranian side did not know what to do next. With no training, and no hopes of featuring in competitions, uncertainty loomed large.
The women’s team isn’t the only one to take a hit. Even the men’s kabaddi ecosystem has barely seen any competitive exercises post COVID. The Pro Kabaddi League has been the exception, but the international scene ran dry. it wasn’t until the Asian Kabaddi Championships in June this year that the Iran men’s side got onto the mat. The women though, haven’t even had that.
“But now, we have hope,” Farideh Zarif Dosut, who was the captain of the team when it defeated India in the summit clash in Jakarta, says.
A few members of this team are kabaddi coaches. Some are physical trainers, others teachers. For many, balancing livelihood and their passion for donning Iran’s colours on the kabaddi mat is a tough task, but the lot is happy to take on any barriers coming in the way of their dreams.
“Our league structure is pretty good and there are several talented players,” says Astereki. “We have competition in our country each year, which is similar to the PKL and it’s really good. We watch the Indian league as well and learn quite a few things, which have helped us…”
However, Shailaja points out that though Iran has sub-junior, junior and senior teams, kabaddi is still not played at the school level — crucial to strengthening the spine of the sport in the nation.“But we are trying hard,” she says.
When the players heard about their trip to Mumbai a few weeks ago, they were excited. This was a city most of them had only seen in Bollywood films and over the years, Shailaja had narrated many stories about India to her team.
Once in the city, the team wanted to plan a tour of all its historical hotspots and catch a glimpse of Mannat — the residence of actor Shah Rukh Khan. However, a hectic schedule has forced the side to stay hotel-bound, much to everyone’s disappointment. A small price to pay in the larger pursuit of a second consecutive Asiad gold medal.
This bunch heads home for another camp before they depart to China. The gold medal in Jakarta gave them a new lease of life and the women from Iran want to cement their place as champions on Asia in Hangzhou.
