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India has the second largest population in the world. Nearly a billion and a half people live on the Indian subcontinent. Sports in the country have been actively developing over the past decades.

What are the specifics of Indian sports?

There is social inequality in the state. It is reflected in all spheres of life. Science, economy, and even sports are divided into two large strata. The first is oriented toward poor amateurs, and the second is for the rich.

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The lower classes play sports outdoors, making equipment from improvised items or using old ones. For professionals, there are clubs and special centers, based on which the training takes place. Success in sport in India, as in any other country, is measured by records, the number of fans, and the time spent on training.

Which sport is popular in the state is always conditioned by many factors. The main one is geographic location. It makes no sense to build expensive ice rinks in areas with a hot climate where people do not know what snow is. Important reasons for the success of any sport are also the historical past and famous national players.

What sports are the most popular?

Popular sports depend on the region. In mountainous areas, for example, it is common to practice yoga. This is due to the historical and cultural past of the country, as well as the philosophical teachings that are prevalent in the area. A large number of foreigners live in the capital. Half of the residents speak fluent English. Close contact with the British and Americans has made soccer and basketball the most prestigious sports.

If you ask a random passerby in India about his favorite sport, he will almost certainly say cricket. Many Indians tend to be analytical, logical thinkers. Their developments in IT technology, mathematics, and physics receive dozens of international awards. This probably explains the popularity of chess.

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Cricket

Cricket is one of the symbols of India. The best players in the world are from these countries. However, this sport was originally invented thousands of miles away. On the territory of the country for a long time, there was no independent statehood. The British colonized India, and for centuries they lived side by side with the indigenous population. At that time, cricket was already fading in popularity in the British Empire. However, the Hindus loved the sport.

The best cricketer in modern Indian history is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Fans of his talent called the athlete “God of cricket”. Sachin Tendulkar began his career at the age of eleven. During his career, he changed to three different clubs. For the longest time, he played for the Mumbai team. In fourteen years he won more than a dozen different awards. In 2013, he ended his career and began coaching the younger generation.

Hindus organized a famous commercial project called “Twenty 20”. Since 2008 it is the most popular worldwide. The capitalization of the Indian Premier League is more than seven billion dollars. Many blogs have written about it.

Indian cricket team
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Soccer

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. It is played on all continents. The main advantages are the ability to play anywhere, and little equipment. A ball is enough for competitions. In poor India in the 19th century, there may not have been a goalpost at all.

The popularity of soccer in India depends on the region. In parts that are closer to China, traditional cricket is preferred. In the southern parts of the country, the sport ranks first in popularity. Hundreds of amateur and professional competitions are held. Players from India are part of the leading teams in Asia.

However, Indian soccer teams do not perform well in international competitions. They are not even in the top 100 in the rankings. However, this may soon change. The government has allocated millions of dollars for the development of sports in recent years. Soccer is also attracting investors who are willing to invest in sports centers and equipment.

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The history of the sport in India goes back to the early nineteenth century. Back then, the entire peninsula was occupied by the British. They colonized the territories and established their governmental and social organizations. They did not care about the sports of the indigenous population.

The natives were forced to adopt many of the habits and cultural characteristics of the colonizers. Some of these have survived for centuries. One reminder of those times was soccer. People saw soldiers practicing by rolling the ball across the field. They learned the meaning of the game. Instead of balls, they used whatever tools were at hand.

By the end of the century, soccer had become hugely popular in India. Soccer clubs began to appear in the country in 1890. One of the first organizations, the Indian Football League, was founded in Calcutta and is still successfully functioning today.

Adult playing football
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Kabaddi

Kabaddi is the calling card of India. The sport originated four millennia ago. It was played by rich and poor alike. Each region had its own rules. Only the essence of the game remained common. However, over time, people increasingly moved to other localities, and with them their traditions. So by the eighteenth century, a similar concept of the game emerged in all regions.

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The sport is a national treasure of India. The rules, which were written down as early as 1918, are revered. Indians present the competition all over the world. The general public in Europe learned about kabaddi in 1936. Athletes decided to present a visual display of the game at the Olympics in Berlin.

In the twentieth century, India began to actively develop, and with it the sport. Kabaddi was also slightly modified. Athletes created a federation of the game. The head office of the International Kabaddi Federation is also located in India.

Kabaddi
economictimes

Field hockey

Field hockey in European countries is mostly associated with team play on the ice. However, things are different in Asian countries. Field hockey is a cheap and effective way for Indians to play sports. It doesn’t require expensive equipment. Competitions can be held outside.

Field hockey in India also originated during the colonial period. It was invented by the British, who were bored of playing with a stick on the ice in hot Asia. So they decided to recreate the concept with a local twist. Instead of skates, there were ordinary shoes, a heavy stick was replaced by a small ball.

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If you get acquainted with the rules, you can see that they are a mixture of hockey and soccer. In the matches, there are two teams. Each team must consist of eleven people. Players are not allowed to touch the balls with their hands or feet. Only a stick is used for this purpose. The goal is to throw the ball into the opponent’s goal. Field hockey consists of two halves.

Salima Tete
Hockey India/Twitter

Tennis

Tennis is a sport for Indians who live in wealthy areas. These areas are equipped with courts, where there are always many people who want to play the ball. In recent decades, tennis is actively developing at the professional level.

Indian athletes take part in prestigious tournaments. Vijaya Amritraja was able to win the Grand Prix. He hit his opponents sixteen times in a row and thus made his name in the history of Asian sport. The athlete also reached the Davis Cup finals.

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olympics

Badminton

Badminton is one of the oldest sports in the world. The first documented records of the sport date back to the 7th century, when the Chinese and Indians played a game called Di Jian-Dsi. It was played on a similar principle to hitting a feather ball in Japan, and in Korea, a predecessor of badminton called Tiye-Kitcha-Ki. Outside the Asian continent, similar badminton games were played by the Indians of North, Central, and South America.

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The history of modern badminton began with the game of Pune, named after the Indian city of Pune, where it was created by British soldiers in the mid-19th century. The inhabitants of Asia brought the game to England, where ten years later, in 1850, it received its present name.

Colonel Dolby is an important man in the history of badminton. He was also an avid badminton player, as was the Duke of Beaufort. In 1893 he organized the world’s first badminton association. He founded it with representatives of other clubs in England. They agreed on fixed rules (previously each club had its own) and the size of the field. Thanks to this step badminton were able to develop and move into its current form.

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