The British-Bangladeshi former Apprentice runner-up, who first played kabaddi at university in 2017, will lead England at the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship in Ahmedabad.
British-Bangladeshi Anisa Khan has been appointed captain of the England women’s national kabaddi team, and she will lead the side for the first time at the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship, which begins in Ahmedabad on Friday, 23 October.
Khan announced the appointment herself on social media. Her father, Yawar Khan, confirmed it to Prothom Alo, saying that her appointment as captain of the England women’s team had recently been announced.
The move puts a familiar face at the head of the England women’s squad. Khan is best known in the United Kingdom as the runner-up on the 2025 series of BBC One’s business reality show The Apprentice, but her links with kabaddi go back to her student days.
Khan took up the sport at university. In her social media post announcing the captaincy, she wrote: “I’m officially Captain of the England Women’s Kabaddi Team. I joined my university kabaddi society in 2017 as a complete beginner. I never imagined trying a new sport would lead me here.”
She went on to earn a place in the England women’s national team and was part of the squad at the 2024 European Beach Kabaddi Championship. The Commonwealth event will be her debut as captain.
Looking ahead to the trip, Khan wrote: “Next week, I’m flying to India to lead an incredible group of women at the Commonwealth Championships, and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Khan’s path to the captaincy has run alongside a busy career away from the mat. She studied economic development at the London School of Economics and worked at the international consulting firm Accenture. During the Covid-19 pandemic she founded her own food business, Bombay Pizza.
Her profile rose sharply in 2025 when she reached the final of The Apprentice, finishing as runner-up in the competition for a £250,000 business investment from British businessman Lord Alan Sugar.
Through all of it, she has kept playing. Reflecting on that journey, Khan wrote: “I’ve graduated from LSE, worked at Accenture, built Bombay Pizza and competed on The Apprentice. Life has taken me in so many directions, but kabaddi has been there through all of it.”
Khan was raised in the United Kingdom, but her family’s ancestral home is in Akua village of Rajnagar upazila in Moulvibazar district, Bangladesh. Her father moved from Bangladesh to the United Kingdom in 1973, ran a restaurant business and later moved into property. He is the founder of the UK’s Asian Curry Awards. Anisa is the youngest of four siblings.
Her appointment carries an extra layer of interest because Bangladesh are also among the 14 countries entered for the Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship, which means the England captain will be competing at the same event as the country of her family’s roots.
Khan said she would fly to India next week to join up with the squad for the tournament. The Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship opens in Ahmedabad on 23 October, with England and Bangladesh among the 14 participating nations. The event will mark the start of Khan’s tenure as England women’s captain.
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