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.
A Do-or-Die raid is a Pro Kabaddi League rule introduced to prevent teams from using consecutive empty raids as a time-wasting tactic. If a raider fails to score any points (no touch point and no bonus point) in two consecutive raids — called empty raids — then the third raid automatically becomes a Do-or-Die raid. The raider must score at least one point during this raid; if they return empty-handed, they are declared out and the defending team earns one point. The Do-or-Die rule adds significant tactical pressure to the raiding side.
An All Out (also called a Lona) occurs when all seven players of the defending team have been sent to the sitting block — meaning the raiding team has tagged all of them over the course of multiple raids. When this happens, the raiding team is awarded a bonus of 2 extra points on top of all the individual touch points already scored during those raids. All 7 eliminated players are then immediately revived and return to the court. An All Out is the single biggest momentum shift in a kabaddi match — teams that score more all-outs tend to win decisively.
A Super Tackle is a PKL-specific rule that rewards a defending team for successfully stopping the raider when 3 or fewer of their players remain on the court. Under normal circumstances, a successful tackle earns 1 point. But if the tackle is completed with only 1, 2, or 3 defenders on the mat, the defending team earns 1 extra bonus point — making a Super Tackle worth 2 points in total. This rule was designed to keep matches competitive even when one team has a severe player disadvantage, since a single Super Tackle can swing momentum and bring eliminated players back through revival.
The bonus line is only active when 6 or more defenders are present on the court. If fewer than 6 defenders are on the mat — due to earlier eliminations — the bonus line is inactive and crossing it earns nothing. To earn the bonus point, the raider must cross the bonus line before touching any defender and before being caught: they must step one foot beyond the bonus line while the other foot remains in the air (off the ground). Crossing the bonus line after a touch or after a struggle with a defender does not count. There is no player revival for a bonus point — only touch points and tackle points trigger revivals.
When a player is eliminated — either by being tagged (for defenders) or tackled (for the raider) — they go to the sitting block and are "out." They can be revived when their own team scores touch or tackle points. Revivals happen in the same order as eliminations: the player who went out first is revived first. Each point scored by the team brings back one eliminated player. So if a raider tags 3 defenders and safely returns, 3 of the opposing team's sitting players are revived and 3 defenders go out. This perpetual cycle of elimination and revival is what keeps all 7 players on the court for most of a match.
Stepping outside the court's outer boundary line at any point — whether during a raid, while defending, or in the middle of a struggle — results in that player being declared out immediately, and a point is awarded to the opposing side. The only exception is the lobby strip along the sides, which becomes part of the live playing area once a struggle has genuinely begun between the raider and a defender. Before that contact happens, even a toe over the boundary ends the play.