India is a country known for its love of sports. While most people know that cricket dominates, not just the Indian, but the South Asian sports scene in general, the diversity of cultures in India has led to the popularity of numerous sports all over the country.
India is one of the biggest, and most densely populated nations in the world, which has led to a diversity of opinions when it comes to favorite sports. The population density has also led to Sports Betting in India being one of the biggest hobbies. It is only natural to assume that a country filled with sports fans will have a vibrant betting scene.
In this article, we are going to take a look at some of India’s favorite sports outside of cricket, which we already know is the favorite.
Football
We’re sure that many expected football to be found on this list. With over 4 million fans around the globe, Association football (soccer in the States), is the uncontested most popular sport in the world. Much like cricket, the origin of the game as we know it now can be traced to England (though admittedly similar games have existed since the ancient era). In the mid-1800s, the first official rules of the game were drafted, and though many of them are now changed or obsolete, it is also the undoubtedly the first time the game was made official.
Football quickly spread around the world. English merchants, immigrants and diplomats brought the sport over to India in the mid-to-late-1800s, and the rest, as they say, is history. While not nearly as popular as cricket among Indian audiences, football is still watched and played by a huge chunk of Indians all over the country.
Badminton
It might not be as popular as tennis in the world, but badminton is much more popular in India. Not only is it played and watched by people all over the country, India is also one of the most dominant nations on the international Badminton scene. A number of Indian shuttlers are ranked in the top 10 greatest badminton players, and P. V. Sindhu is the only Indian player to achieve to consecutive medals in the Badminton Olympics.
Needless to say, the sport is a great pastime among many Indians, and the country has won 12 BWF World Championship medals.
Field Hockey
At the Olympics, field hockey is considered India’s national sport, and the country has one of the most successful track records in field hockey in the world. The national field hockey team has won eight gold medals, one silver and two bronze. All combined, they hold the record for most amount of field hockey medals in the world.
The country has hosted three World Cups in Men’s Hockey. The first one was the Mumbai 1982 Cup, then another in 2010, which was held in Delhi, and the last one was held in Bhubaneswar in 2018. They have also performed quite admirably in the World Cup, winning one gold medal, one silver medal, and one bronze medal.
Honorable mentions
Apart from the three mentioned above, Indians are also great fans of a plethora of other sports, most notably, basketball, tennis, wrestling (which has been part of Indian culture since the ancient era), and most recently, chess. Thanks to the recent success of Viswanathan Anand, many Indians have taking an interest in the game of chess, and in the past two years especially, the number of people in the country striving to learn or play chess has risen drastically.
