Kabaddi Scoring Rules
Complete guide to how points are scored in kabaddi — touch points, tackles, bonus points, all-outs, and PKL-specific rules
Kabaddi Scoring Rules
Complete guide to how points are scored in kabaddi — touch points, tackles, bonus points, all-outs, and PKL-specific rules
Scoring Rules
Who Scores What
What is the Kabaddi Scoring System?
Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players each on a rectangular court divided by a mid-line. One of the oldest traditional games of South Asia, kabaddi was first organised competitively in India in the 1920s, entered the National Games of India in 1938, and has been part of the Asian Games since 1990. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI), founded in 1972, governs the sport domestically under the framework of the Asian Kabaddi Federation (AKF) and the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF).
Scoring in kabaddi is fast and continuous — every raid is an opportunity for either side to score. The raiding team earns touch points for each defender tagged and successfully escaped past, while the defending team earns tackle points for stopping the raider. Additional points come from bonus line crossings, all-outs (eliminating all seven opponents), and PKL-specific rules like the Super Tackle. A standard match runs for 40 minutes — two halves of 20 minutes each — with a 5-minute halftime break.
The Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), launched in 2014, modernised the game significantly: raids were capped at a 30-second time limit, the Do-or-Die raid rule was introduced (after two consecutive empty raids, the raider must score on the third or be declared out), and the Super Tackle rule incentivises defending sides with fewer players. PKL is now the second most-watched sports league in India after the IPL, with over 435 million viewers in its inaugural season alone.
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Scoring at a Glance
- • Touch Point: +1 per defender tagged — raider must return safely to score
- • Tackle Point: +1 to defenders — raider stopped before crossing mid-line
- • Bonus Point: +1 for crossing bonus line when ≥6 defenders on court
- • All Out (Lona): +2 bonus points — all 7 opponents eliminated in sitting block
- • Super Tackle: +1 bonus — tackle with 3 or fewer defenders on mat (PKL rule)
- • Do-or-Die Raid: Raider must score on the 3rd consecutive empty raid or is declared out (PKL rule)
Why Kabaddi's Scoring System Matters
Kabaddi's scoring is unusual among team sports because a single raid can swing a match instantly — a Super Raid or an All Out can erase a five-point deficit in seconds, which is exactly why the sport plays so fast and stays tense until the final whistle. Understanding the point system is the difference between watching a scoreline change and understanding why it changed.
The Do-or-Die rule and player revival mechanic together create constant pressure: a raider can't simply stall for time, and a team down to two or three players is never really out of the contest since a single Super Raid revives their whole side. This is what makes kabaddi genuinely watchable even when one team is dominating — the revival system means the score can flip in a single 30-second raid.
For anyone new to the PKL, knowing these rules also explains team strategy: why coaches rest their best raider for a Do-or-Die situation, why defenders deliberately let a weak raider score a token point to avoid a Do-or-Die altogether, and why an All Out is treated as the biggest momentum shift in the sport.
?Frequently Asked Questions
The cant is the continuous chanting of the word "kabaddi" that the raider must maintain throughout the entire raid — starting before they enter the opponent's court and stopping only after they safely return to their own half. The cant serves as proof that the raider is operating on a single breath without inhaling. If the raider stops chanting, pauses, or is caught exhaling (losing breath), the raid ends immediately — the raider is declared out and the defending team is awarded one point. This is one of the most ancient and distinctive rules in all of sport.