Here’s a list of popular sports played in India. A lot has changed over the years and several sports which were played only by the elite (such as golf, and tennis) now have a substantial following in India.
Most of the popular sports in India are also part of the Olympics, which takes place once in four years and comprises winter and summer games. But then the biggest of them all – ‘Cricket’ (at least in India) does not feature in the Olympics.
Do We Have a Better Attitude Towards Fitness Now?
Only in recent times, India has started winning a few medals at the Olympics. Some of the reasons are access to better sports infrastructure & training facilities in the country. However, it still needs to improve a lot if India has to win many more medals at the International level.
When it comes to skills, Indians are second to none in most sports (be it hockey, badminton, table tennis, or other games), but it’s the fitness part where there’s a wide gap between Indians and the world’s top players/athletes.
Even if you take a city like Mumbai, people are more into gymming than playing sports, but that’s because of the lack of sporting facilities (either there are very few or the membership charges are too exorbitant).
However, the good thing is that one can now see the change in the attitude of Indians toward fitness. Events such as the ‘Mumbai Marathon’ has only helped the cause. The introduction of various sports leagues, IPL, IBL, HIL, has also helped increase the fitness levels of our players.
Hopefully, we’ll start seeing better results at International competitions.
Cricket
Cricket is a religion in India and the cricketers are gods (at least Sachin Tendulkar is), and Indians – be it here or abroad – are associated with the sport in some way or the other.
There’s plenty of opportunity for someone who wants to take up this game. Besides playing for India, you can still make a good living playing for Ranji (and IPL). Besides, there’s a lot of demand for coaches and even commentators.
Chess
Viswanathan Anand does deserve some credit for the popularity of chess in India. Despite India proclaiming to be the inventor of the game, it was Anand who took the sport from obscurity to a popular game in India. Now there are many more gifted players in the country.
Football
Another popular sport in India, more so in Bengal, Kerala, and Goa, with Kolkata regarded as the home of Indian football. Football is now popular in Mumbai and Bengaluru as well. In recent times, football players like Baichung Bhutia and Sunil Chhetri have made a name for themselves. A physically demanding game that requires very high fitness levels.
Hockey
Hockey has always been a popular sport in India, though barring ‘Dhyan Chand’ and to some extent ‘Dhanraj Pillay’, not many players have been popular with the masses. In recent years, India has NOT been winning as many International matches as it would have liked. This is another sport where you need tremendous fitness levels (it’s a treat to watch the Dutch, Germans & Aussies play, and how quickly they cover the ground).
Tennis
Players like Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupati & Sania Mirza are responsible (to some extent) for the popularity of this game in India. The sport requires concentration, stamina and superior agility. However, most of these players are already past their prime, so it will take new stars to ensure the popularity of this game in India.
Badminton
Probably it has already overtaken Tennis in terms of popularity, thanks to the likes of Sindhu & Saina Nehwal, and of course coach ‘Pullela Gopichand’, whose badminton academy is seen as a factory that produces badminton stars for India, with several promising players waiting to show their potential. Its not easy to take on the Chinese who have extremely high fitness levels, and most of our Indian badminton players are already doing that.
Shooting
Abhinav bindra (World and Beijing Olympic champion) & Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Athens Games silver medalist) are the reasons that India expects medals at the Olympics in this sport. Though not quite popular with the masses, there are some good Shooting facilities in the country where one can train.
Boxing
Boxing is another sport where India expects medals at the Olympics nowadays. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Vijender Kumar won a bronze medal for India but since then not many boxers have made a mark for themselves. This game demands great strength & fitness levels.
Wrestling
This is another sport where India expects medals at the Olympics nowadays. Indian wrestlers have been doing well at most international competitions for the last many years. However, there are talks of ‘wrestling’ to be removed from the Olympics games which, if true, could impact the popularity of the sport in India.
Athletics / Track & Field
We all know that Milkha Singh at one time was the world-record holder (not at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games though). Another star athlete and a house-hold name was P.T. Usha who won four-gold medals at the 1986 Asian Games. But in recent times it’s Anju Bobby George (long jumper) who has done India proud. She has won gold medals at the Asian Championships, Asian Games, and at the World Athletics Final (2005).
Golf
Golf is also a growing sport in India, contrary to what many believe. The most successful Indian Golfer is ‘Jeev Milkha Singh’ who has won several titles at the International level.
Table Tennis
After Kamlesh Mehta, no one has been quite popular in Table tennis for India. Though the TT scene is good in India, coaches lament the fitness levels of most of our players, which is just not good to take on the Chinese and the Europeans table tennis players.
Basketball
Basketball in India is played in most schools & colleges; there’s considerable patronage for the game among the younger generation. But it has not yet transformed into something concrete at the top levels for India.
Volleyball
Volleyball is a popular recreation sport played all over India. Currently, an important problem for the sport is the lack of sponsors.
There other sports such as Cycling, Swimming, Judo, Weightlifting, Triathlon, Archery, Horse Riding, Rowing & Sailing which has a following in India, but they’re not yet as popular in India as the other sports. Most of these sports do have a following among those in the defense forces.
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