With the advent of the highly anticipated Premier Handball League, which seeks to revolutionise the sport in the nation, a whole new path has been unlocked for the sport-loving populace of the nation.
Featuring six teams in its inaugural edition, the PHL aims to take the game of handball to the far reaches of the nation and unearth talent which would ultimately be beneficial for the nation in terms of sporting success on the international stage down the line.
In an exclusive, News18 caught up with Delhi Panzers goalkeeper Nittin Kumar Sharma as he opens up on his journey in the sport and the potential he sees in the nation for the growth and development of the game.
“I’ve been playing this game since my Under-12 days. My father was a policeman and after he passed away, I got into the police school there,” Sharma began.
“And under the welfare development program, we were asked to get into sports teams and that’s how I picked up handball,” he said reflecting on his early days in the sport.
The PHL has managed to unearth a swathe of talent from across the country and Sharma attributes this step in the progress to the keen eye of the scouts, who travelled across the nation ahead of the opening edition of the new endeavour.
“I played for Jammu and Kashmir in the nationals last year in Lucknow, where the scouts from the League were present watching me play,” he revealed.
“And that is when my talent came to light and they asked me to get into the auction pool. And ultimately during the auction, I was picked up by the team,” he said with evident joy on his face.
Considering how nascent the league is, Sharma feels that initiatives such as the PHL which shed light on various games in a nation dominated by the cricket craze is essential in bolstering the all-round sporting health of the nation.
He also felt that the initiative of televising the sport will yield dividends in terms of proliferation of the viewership numbers for the game and subsequently, serve as a catalyst for the development of the new-found sport.
“Now that the sports it being televised, a lot of people are watching it. And locally, too, a lot of people are picking up the sport of handball, especially in the region where I hail from,” he said with discernable glee.
“Young kids are looking at the sport and they are eager to pick up the game. They are encouraged and motivated to get into the sport, which is a good sign always,” he added.
The 27-year-old, who is a part of the J&K sports council, seeks to take his learnings from the PHL and put it to efficient use in terms of the development of the sport in the county.
“I’m a part of the J&K Sports Council, I have a position in the council and once I head back home after the tournament, I look forward to sharing my experience of how things are being run,” he emphasised.
“I also feel that handball is not only an outdoor sport, and actually, it is also an indoor sport. Since at the Asian level it is played indoors on the gum, I feel it is essential to promote that format of the game.
“I believe and hope that the sport grows with this opportunity.”
With multiple franchise-based leagues popping up in the county across, sports, some events such as the Pro Kabaddi League and the Pro Volleyball League have opted for certain changes in the traditional rules to make the game more enticing and enthralling for the viewers.
When queried if such new-age rules need to be applied to the sport of handball to cater to a larger audience and bring in higher viewership and engagement, Sharma said with poise that the existing rules of the game make it plenty interesting, however, the addition of a DRS in the future would sharpen the league even further.
“I feel the standard rules are very good as such. It is a very fast-paced game and there is a lot of action involved,” he elucidated.
“Maybe, in time, if the DRS system could be brought in, things would probably get even better,” the 27-year-old opined.
Since the sport is a rather untapped notion in India, Sharma feels that looking upto established systems in the European continent, where the game is more popular, would do a world of good for the progress of the sport in India.
“With the league, we have started playing with the gumball, which wasn’t used before. Previously, even when we used to go for Asian game camps, we used to train with the gumball only closer to the tournament, like a couple of days ahead of the event,” he shared his experience.
“But now with the league coming in, I hope that the usage of gumball in the country picks up.”
“Maybe it is a cost issue or maybe it is a facility issue, but what needs to happen is we need more indoor facilities, and the training with the gumball needs to increase because at the European level, they only play with the gumball and indoor, so they are already high up there,” he elaborated.
“And once we start playing with such amenities, we would naturally acquire experience and exposure and the level of performance goes up,”
“We could also look at international camps where we train with other nations which would also help us with the exposure,” concluded Sharma.
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