The following are the top ten most popular sports in India.
Cricket is No. 1, Football is No. 2, Kabaddi is No. 4, Badminton is No. 5, Hockey is No. 6, Tennis is No. 7, Wrestling is No. 8, and Motorsports is No. 9.
Basketball is number ten.
11. Sports and Their Importance in India
India is home to a wide range of interests and hobbies. The Top Ten Most Popular Sports Despite the fact that India has a diverse population, there are a few locations that have captured the attention of a considerable portion of the population.
In India, the following are the top ten most popular sports.
Sports are a popular pastime in India, with cricket being the most popular sport.
Sport has always succeeded to bring a big portion of the populace together on one side of the aisle in India. There are a few
Now we'll look at a list of India's most popular sports. Before we get into the list, it's important to note that these sports were ranked solely on the basis of their popularity in India. Any sport's position on the list is not indicative of India's overall success.
Despite the fact that cricket dominates headlines due to the fervour it generates in India, there are a number of other sports that have a sizable following across different Indian groups. The following is a ranking of the most popular sports in India.
The following are the top ten most popular sports in India:
Cricket is number one.
When compared to the interest produced by a particular sport in any other country, cricket's popularity in India is unrivalled.
2. Football
The most popular sport in the world, football remains an enigma in India. Famously called the ‘sleeping giant’ of the footballing world by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, football is primarily a spectator sport in India. While the ISL has garnered a hefty base of followers in India, it is the huge following of European club tournaments which forms the roots of football’s popularity in India.
The Indian football team is currently ranked 105 in the world. Considering the population of India and the demographics of some of the other countries who have qualified for the World Cup in the past few years, the failure to qualify even once can be called a monumental failure on a professional and institutional level.
The popularity of football in India remains stoked by the sizable following of European football in urban centers of the country. The Premier League is one of the most watched sports leagues in India. To encourage a culture of football in the subcontinent and India in particular, many top European clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea have dedicated fan groups in which are connected with supporters across the world.
These efforts made by European footballing bodies have created a whole generation of young Indians who follow and support top clubs based in England, Spain, Germany, and Italy.
Following the example set by European clubs, India has its own football league now, the Indian Soccer League (ISL). The tournament recorded a viewership of nearly 160 million during its first season in 2014.
3. Kabaddi
While different sports in India like badminton and hockey would have nabbed the third spot a few years back, kabaddi has returned to the center stage of Indian sports.
Amongst the traditional Indian sports, kabaddi has returned to the mainstream with the unforeseen rise of the Pro-Kabaddi League held annually across various cities in India. In 2014, the PKL became the second most popular league in India, bested only by the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Having established a strong viewer base and a set of willing sponsors, kabaddi is uniquely positioned to gain viewership in rural areas due to its obvious popularity there and establishing new viewers who slowly learning more about the sport.
India and Iran are the two top kabaddi playing nations in the world at the moment. India has won all the Kabaddi World Cups until 2017.
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