Kabaddi World Cup: India test awaits England

AHMEDABAD: On Tuesday, India will take on a 'professional' English side in what will be the final league match for both teams at the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup. Indians will look to seal their semi-final berth by beating England. However, in the unlikely scenario of the hosts losing to England by at least seven points and Bangladesh winning their last match by a huge margin, the hosts will lose their place in the last four to their neighbours.
England had a tough Sunday night when group toppers Korea crushed them 56-17 and should not expect any favours from India on Tuesday.India skipper Anup Kumar sounded warning bells for them when he said, "We are not going to experiment against England. We will take it as just another match before our semi-final clash."
Unlike the Indian team, which comprises players who play the sport full-time, most of the English players are part-timers and have to fall back on other options to earn their livelihood. England's skipper Someshwar Kalia finished his studies in pharmacy two years back and took to freelancing to continue with his passion - kabaddi. "Nothing comes without hard work. I manage time to follow my passion," the 26-year-old from South East London told TOI.
Kalia then gave an insight into the 'professional' set up of his team which has a few members with a medicine background. The 6.5 feet tall raider Keshav Gupta, who has 25 raid points so far, is a medicine graduate and will be spotted with a stethoscope at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham once he is done with his raiding responsibilities. Defender Joshua Enson has two years to go before he can become a qualified doctor and co-defender Nikesh Farmah, who collected six tackle points, is a practising dentist in Cardiff.
England's most successful raider Tope Adewalure (35 raid points) is an engineer and a civil servant in London. Giving him company is all-rounder Milan Nayee who just completed his graduation in mechanical engineering from Imperial College and will be on a job hunt soon after he is back to the UK.