Indigenous Sports to Academic Focus: A Bibliometric Analysis of Kabaddi Scopus-Indexed Literature From 2000–2026

Abstract

Background: Kabaddi is a traditional indigenous sport that has developed into an organized competitive sport and has attracted increasing academic attention across multiple research domains. Research on Kabaddi has expanded across physical fitness, sports performance, training, body composition, biomechanics, sports injuries, sports medicine, and technology-oriented approaches. However, the literature is distributed across diverse research areas, authors, institutions, countries, and journals. Therefore, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis is required to examine the development, structure, and thematic landscape of Kabaddi research. Method: The present study employed a bibliometric research design using publications indexed in the Scopus database. The search was conducted using TITLE-ABS-KEY (Kabaddi), which initially retrieved 121 records. After removal of one duplicate record and exclusion of eight publications published before 2000, 112 records published between 2000 and 2026 were included in the analysis. The selected records were analysed for publication trends, contributing authors, sources, institutions, countries, citation patterns, collaboration networks, and keyword co-occurrence. VOS viewer was used for network visualization and mapping, while Bibliometrix/Biblioshiny was used for descriptive bibliometric and thematic analysis. Results: The findings demonstrate that Kabaddi research has developed across multiple interconnected areas of sports science. Keyword co-occurrence analysis identified major research themes related to physical fitness, agility, sports performance, training, body composition, anthropometry, sports injuries, and sports medicine. Injury-related research included themes such as knee injuries, anterior cruciate ligament injuries, joint dislocation, and other sports-related injuries. The analysis also identified technology-oriented terms, including machine learning, computer vision, deep learning, and data analytics, indicating the development of computational approaches within Kabaddi research. The co-authorship analysis revealed several distinct collaborative research groups rather than a single highly integrated author network. Conclusion: Kabaddi research has expanded from predominantly physical and performance-related investigations toward a broader multidisciplinary research landscape incorporating training, body composition, injury research, sports medicine, and technology-based approaches. The bibliometric mapping provides an overview of the intellectual and thematic structure of Kabaddi research and identifies areas that may support future research, particularly injury prevention, performance analysis, evidence-based training, and the application of emerging technologies in Kabaddi.