Sports have been in our country for centuries, not only for fun but also to develop good physical health. As time passed, many new sports were introduced in India and were accepted with an open heart. Get sportswear for every sports look with Cultsport coupons through Cashaly.

India participates in the Olympics and leagues, taking expert teams in every sport. India has won many medals and tournaments in different sports, making us feel more proud. We have curated the most loved sports in India that you must know about.

Keep reading the blog to learn more about the top popular sports in India.

List of Most-Loved Sports in India

Let us go through each sport and understand its popularity with famous names of players.

Cricket

Cricket is at the top of the list, as in India it is the most popular and played sport. You can see cricket being played in almost every street and park. The craze for cricket is incomparable when it comes to India vs. Pakistan. You know it, right?

Great players like Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and many others have shown true dedication towards this sport and won many difficult matches. The new generation is also showing their perfect skills towards cricket at a high level.

Hockey

Hockey, being India’s national sport, has brought many gold medals to the Olympics. The Indian hockey team has won eight gold medals, led by Dhyan Chand, dominating the other countries well. The installation of an artificial playing surface seems to be a blocking factor for Indian players, as they are used to the natural grass ground.

Making it more difficult for the Indian team, the Hockey Federation is in a constant fight that is slowly collapsing our great team with other nations. Just like many other sports leagues, hockey also has a league known as the Hockey India League, which was founded in 2013.

Football

Football is another popular sport, attracting a huge Indian audience. Being a spectator sport in India, the Indian football team is ranked 105th in the world. India in the world of football is known as the ‘sleeping giant’ by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

Various nations have qualified for the World Cup in recent years, except the Indian team. You will find a huge fanbase for European club tournaments, despite the ISL having a substantial following. The most popular sports league is the Premier League in India.

Kabaddi

With the Pro-Kabaddi League, Kabaddi has gained popularity at the national and international levels. With other popular sports, Kabaddi has become a famous sport that people love to play and watch its matches. Where early Kabaddi was only seen as a street game and a fun game limited to individual cities, the Pro-Kabaddi League has taken it to another level.

After the IPL, PKL became India’s second-most popular league in 2014. The love Kabaddi has received has positioned it to reach more viewers and interested sponsors, making it a well-known and well-played sport. As India has traditional Kabaddi players, we have won the Kabaddi world cups until 2017.

Badminton

We all have played badminton in our streets, and it is one of the most popular sports in India. With the new generation of players, India has seen success in this sport. Saina Nehwal bringing home a bronze medal at the London Olympics in 2012 made India proud and engraved her name in the history of badminton.

PV Sindhu is another player who proved her best by winning the silver medal at the Rio Olympics. Srikant, Ashwini Ponnappa, Prakash Padukone, and Pulella Gopichand are some more names who not only made it to the Olympics but also won medals for India.

Tennis

Tennis has gained popularity in India, with a huge fan base around the globe. Not creating a record in singles, India has been producing top double players. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have won Grand Slam doubles many times. And therefore, they have become the legends to be reliant on India.

However, with one player retiring and another getting old enough to play with the same enthusiasm, India now looks forward to some amazing, experienced players. Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza have been the faces of Indian tennis players for now and have proved to be amazingly excellent players.

Wrestling

Wrestling, also known as kushtee in India, has been a popular sport for years in your country. The akhada is the home for wrestlers and connects them to the roots and culture of India. However, there are some differences between traditional and professional wrestling.

In recent years, Indian wrestlers have been winning at least one medal at the Olympic Games since the 2008 Beijing Games. Sushil Kumar, a two-time Olympic medalist, became famous for his exceptional performance.

Boxing

When it comes to boxing, people most likely remember the WWE, as it is the most famous thing we heard in our childhood. However, both are different because boxing is a professional sport that is also played in the Olympics. Vijender Singh won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He has participated in nine fights and won all of them since he started his career as a professional boxer. He is also a winner in the Asia-Pacific Championship. MC Mary Kom is another world-famous name in women’s boxing who won a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics.

Motorsports

Motorsports is one of the most breathtaking and loved sports in India. The craze was developed with the famous Formula One, which is the world’s largest racing sport. Narain Karthikeyan was the first Indian to drive in the race in 2005, hired by Jordan Formula, which developed more curiosity among Indians for this sport.

Karun Chandhok became the second Indian to participate in motorsports. He joined the HRT Formula One in 2011; however, he was later replaced by the reserved driver based on his performance level. India now has its own Formula One team, known as Force India, and performed well in 2017, scoring 187 points and holding fourth place in the race.

Basketball

Basketball has been played in India for a long time in India and is played in schools and universities. Indians have also played this sport at the international level with amazingly brilliant players. For a few years now, India has gained success in the basketball world, where in Division A, the Indian Women’s Basketball Team competed for the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.

In 2022, the Indian basketball team achieved a great accomplishment globally. One of the best players on the Indian basketball team, Satnam Singh Bhamara, was the first Indian player to be selected by an NBA franchise in 2015. While he got selected and played as the first Indian in the NBA, he was in high school.

Conclusion

In this blog, we have discussed the top popular sports in India. With Decathlon coupons through Cashaly, you can get the most comfortable athleisure collection at amazing discounts. You will find a good number of fan bases for these sports, and that is the reason they are on the top ten list. You must have played at least one sport from the above-mentioned list at your school or college.