Premier Handball League: How a chance handball player from Chandigarh became India captain

India captain Atul Kumar, who accidentally began playing handball in school, which offered only that sport, feels with more sponsors and better money spent, the Premier Handball League standards will improve.

There are, at least, three recent developments that Atul Kumar is especially proud of. The captain of India’s handball team, who is currently plying his trade for the Rajasthan Patriots in the Premier Handball League (PHL), does not list them out in any particular order, but admits feeling chuffed about all of them.

In the Fourth IHF (International Handball Federation) Emerging Nations Championships held between 25-30 April in Bulgaria, India reached the semi-finals, the first Asian side to do so. Goalkeeper Kumar, with the most saves after the group phase, had a saving efficiency that ranked him fourth in the standings, according to the IHF website. Being in the top four was a testament to India’s improvement in the sport since they made their return to the AHF Asian Men’s Handball Championship in 2018 after a 23-year wait.

“People say ‘you have been playing for a while, start coaching’,” says the 32-year-old Kumar over a call. “I feel I can play another 5-6 years. I still have a career left in me. In my captaincy, we reached the semi-final in Bulgaria for first time. Someone interviewed me and wrote an article for the IHF site. India has been in this sport for decades, yet I was the first person IHF has written about.”

Recognition plays a big part in what motivates Kumar, who plays a sport that does not have a large audience in India despite being an Olympic sport. It’s the reason he feels proud to be mentioned by English commentator Paul Bray during one of the PHL telecasts.

“When I see international matches, like World Cup and Olympics, I particularly hear one commentator, who covers all major events. He (Bray) is commenting here and when I hear my name mentioned by him on air, I feel good. What commentary he does,” exclaims Kumar. “He makes the game interesting.”

The PHL is being telecast on Jio Cinema and Sports 18.

The inaugural season of the PHL, which is being held in Jaipur from 8 to 25 June, has six teams. Kumar is one of the people who believes the league would do to handball what the Pro-kabaddi League (PKL) did for kabaddi starting over eight years ago. He cites the ground attendance, the messages he gets from people and the enquiries he receives from countries where it is not being telecast, to highlight its growing popularity and curiosity about it.

“My nephew, who is seven years old, used to play cricket. Now, he has seen our matches and wants to play handball like mamu (uncle) ,” he says, the third reason for his current sense of elation.

“For the last 10-15 years at least, no one was watching anything by cricket,” Kumar says. “It changed further after the IPL(Indian Premier League). Now, people watch even kabaddi, which is played only in a few countries and is not even in the Olympics. For any sport to grow, a league plays an important role. Young players will go towards sports that are visible and financially viable.”

Modern handball is a predominantly indoor sport dominated by European nations such as France, Denmark and Norway. In India, it’s still largely played outdoors, one of the reasons for the country’s lack of success on the global stage. Only the Indian players who have played internationally have experience of playing in the kind of conditions the PHL provides. The ball used indoor s is different from the ball used outdoors, which Kumar explains using the analogy of cricket.

“It’s like gully cricket with a tennis ball versus playing in a stadium with leather ball — that’s the difference between outdoor and indoor handball. The ball we play with in India (outdoors) can be gripped. You can’t grip this (ball used indoors), it has to be released with a certain technique. If you try to grip it, it will stick. That’s why we had a 15-day camp (before the PHL). The first timers are having fun playing indoors and with t his ball.”

“We (Indians) therefore don’t play other leagues. Their standards are much higher because while we play outdoors mostly, they play indoors. We are not yet of international standard.”

The PHL has players from other countries, like Thailand, Russia, Iran, Iraq, but not the top rung of international handball who, by Kumar’s admission, would be too expensive. But he feels with more sponsors, better money spent, the PHL standards will improve. “What’s seen is only recognised. We used to play with no one watching. Now that they are watching, close matches on TV, we get a response. Even kabaddi started with a few thousands (in money) for players, then it went into crores.”

Kumar started playing handball in a government school in Chandigarh’s sector 19 on encouragement from a coach, because the school did not have the facilities for multiple sports but had a good handball team. “I was interested in sport but I didn’t want to run,” says Kumar, laughing, “so he (coach) said become a goalkeeper. I thought that’s easy, but when I got hit on the face, I realised it wasn’t (easy). Even yesterday I got hit on the face — I have a black eye to prove it. But at least the goal got saved, so I take solace in that.”