Shankarrao Salvi (15 July 1931 – 15 February 2007) was an Indian

Kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

player, coach and administrator. He was life president of Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India. Salvi is described as a persuasive speaker. His efforts in the field resulted in the merging of "hu tu tu" into a standardised version of kabaddi. Hu tu tu, a traditional game similar to kabaddi, played in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

has nine players per side whereas the standard kabaddi is played with seven players per side. Traditionalists in Maharashtra had resisted replacement of the word "hu tu tu" with "kabaddi" a word more common in northern India. They had persisted in their resistance even after its acceptance in the southern India states. Salvi was a Royist, who cultivated good relations with the state government and lobbied with chief ministers of Maharashtra, to obtain state patronage for Kabaddi. He didn't abuse his contacts for personal benefits; when asked by the Chief Minister what he wanted, Salvi even though he lived in a rented house, requested for space for an administrative office for kabaddi. Salvi travelled widely to popularise kabaddi. In the 1970s, Salvi organised tours to

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and Japan. His efforts lead to the popularisation of the sport internationally and its being played in the Asian Games in 1990 where India won the gold medal. He was a member of the working committee of the

International Kabaddi Federation The International Kabaddi Federation is the international governing body of Kabaddi. Its membership comprises 31 national associations. The federation was formed in 2004. The founder and current president is Ashish Pachori from India. The other offi ...

when the foundation was created in 2004. Salvi received the "Shiv Chhatrapati Rajya Krida Jivan Gaurav Puraskar", awarded by the

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the state governing authority for the state of Maharashtra, India. It is a democratically elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the Vidhan Sabha for a five-year term. Maharashtra has a Maharashtra Legisla ...

to sportspersons from Maharashtra for lifetime contribution to sports in 2005. He is popularly referred to as "Buwa Salvi" and honorarily as "Kabaddi Maharashi" or the grand old man of Kabaddi. He died on 15 February 2007 at the age of 75 in Mumbai. The 27th Federation Cup Kabaddi Tournament, held in May 2007 in Mumbai and organised by Maharashtra State Kabaddi Association was dedicated to Salvi. His birthday, 15 July, is observed as ''Kabaddi Din'' ("Kabaddi Day") in Maharashtra. The venue of the 57th Maharashtra State Kabaddi Championship was named after him as "Late Shankarrao Salvi Krida Nagri".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salvi, Shankarrao 1931 births 2007 deaths Indian male kabaddi players Kabaddi players from Mumbai Indian sports coaches