Akshay Kumar shared details of his kabaddi team and his love for the sport with Samiksha Raj
It is on more than one occasions that Akshay Kumar has spoken about his love for sports. This love is also evident from the kind of films he decides to do, Patiala House is an example. A black belter in Taekwondo and an exponent in martial arts, he has always promoted fitness, contact and other sports. And now he is the co-owner of Speedy Singhs london, one of the teams in the soon to be launched World Kabaddi league (WKl), from August 9 to November 30. He was recently here to announce his latest association in the sports arena. Dressed in cool casuals — chest baring tee and baggy pants teamed with a black jacket, the actor shared that the name of his team draws inspiration from the 2011 movie Speedy Singhs (Hindi version of Canadian flick Breakaway), which was co-produced by the actor. Earlier Akshay was actively involved with cricket — he was the brand ambassador of IPl team Delhi Daredevils in 2008 and at one time had also planned to buy one of the teams in the tournament.
Akshay said, “I like calling myself a stuntman and sportsman first, then an actor. My father was from Amritsar, Punjab and a wrestler himself. I did get a lot of opportunities to buy a cricket team but I went ahead investing in a kabaddi team because I feel there are other sports which all of us, should be a part of. My niece loves basketball and it’s actually nice to see youngsters going for different kind of sports. Cricket is of course a big sport; it’s a religion, but I want other sports to rise to the fore, especially a sport like kabaddi which is native to our own country.” The actor reminisced, “When I was a child, I used to play kabaddi in my building. Hamare school me kabaddi nahi hoti thi (We didn’t play kabaddi in school). Now even my son loves the sport.”
Today we see celebs taking to alternative sports by endorsing and investing in sports other than cricket. But, still when it comes to India, we remain a cricket-crazy nation. Akshay agreed that it will definitely take time for other sports to gain public attention but with initiatives like WKl, other sports will also get the required impetus.
The tournament also features popular industry faces like Sonakshi Sinha, Yo! Yo! Honey Singh and Rajat Bedi as stakeholders of their respective teams. Yo! Yo! Honey Singh, owner of Yo! Yo! Tigers Toronto, remarked, “By nature I am a desi sports person and by choice I am a musician.” Clad in a casual printed shirt and a zebra-striped hat, he stated that he’ll promote the tournament in a big way and also requested the support of the youth for kabaddi. Actress Sonakshi Sinha who was not in attendance is the co-owner of the team United Singhs Birmingham.