Many sports are played in South Asia, with cricket being the most popular of them; 90% of the sport's worldwide fans live in South Asia. [1] Football is followed passionately in some parts of South Asia, [2] [3] such as Kerala and Bengal. [4] [5] [6] Field hockey was popular for several decades, with some of South Asia's greatest sporting accomplishments having taken place in this sport. [7] Some native South Asian games are played professionally in the region, such as kabaddi and kho-kho, and also feature in regional competitions such as the South Asian Games and Asian Games. [8] [9]
Some martial arts were practiced during this time period, such as kalaripayattu. [10] Several variations of tag were played at the time, with kho-kho having been mentioned in the fourth century BCE, [11] and atya-patya around 300 CE; some of them were used for military training purposes. [12] [13] The board game chaturanga formed the foundation of the modern game of chess, and was also used as strategic training for war; [14] [15] it travelled towards Europe and China under Persian and then Arab influence. [16]
British colonisation of South Asia introduced several British sports into the subcontinent, such as cricket, football, and hockey, [17] [18] causing a decline for the local sports, [19] though some of the local sports began to be standardised during this period in Maharashtra. [20] [18] [21] The economic struggles prevailing at the time limited people's overall ability to participate in sport. [22]
The transformation of sports and society in South Asia and the accompanying element of coloniality and anti-colonial resistance caused unique transformations throughout this time period: cricket, for example, came to be seen as a unifying way to demonstrate resistance and success against the colonisers and helped in reducing various forms of societal discrimination, [23] [24] while football came to be seen as an equalising game that cut across class lines and united the global anti-imperialist struggle in left-wing regions such as Kerala and West Bengal. [25] British accusations of Indian effeminacy, which enabled them to demonstrate superiority and powered their programs to reshape local practices, were resisted in a variety of ways, with success against British teams seen as contributing to national revival. [26] [27] However, the interaction between local beliefs and Western sporting practices also manifested itself in anti-sport ways at times: the initial introduction of football at one Srinagar school, designed to produce physical fitness among the children, had to take place by force because the schoolboys saw contact with the ball as defiling them, [28] and similar sentiments of avoiding defilement led to Brahmins preferring cricket because it didn't involve physical contact with lower castes. [29]
Some South Asian board games were transmitted overseas, such as the games now known as ludo and snakes and ladders. [30] [31] [32]
Field hockey was popular for several decades after the colonial era. After India's victory in the 1983 Cricket World Cup, cricket started to grow in the subcontinent while hockey declined, [33] [34] with the 1975 switch from grass to astroturf fields often cited as making hockey too expensive. [35] The introduction of Twenty20 cricket, a format that greatly reduced the playing duration, as well as the advent of the Indian Premier League, which made cricket a strong economic force in the region, further grew the popularity of the sport. [36] Cricket also grew in Afghanistan with the return of refugees who had learned the sport in Pakistan. [37]
The poverty of South Asia has continued to be a defining factor in limiting the success of sport in the region; until the 1970s, for example, cricket and football were not prevalent because of the expensiveness of buying balls. [38]
One of the most important sports rivalries within the subcontinent is the India–Pakistan sports rivalry, due to the history of conflict between the two nations after their partition in 1947. [39] [40]
Various traditional sports have had professional leagues started for them in the 21st century (largely propelled by the economic liberalisation of the 1990s that took place in India that increased investing into sports), [41] such as the Pro Kabaddi League, which has significantly grown kabaddi, [42] as well as Ultimate Kho Kho and the Pro Panja League for arm wrestling. [43] [44] Kabaddi in particular has begun to spread globally, [45] with non-South Asian countries becoming successful at the sport. [46] [47] The growth of these traditional sports has been aided by changes to their appearance and rule sets, such as a shift from playing on mud surfaces to matted surfaces. [48] [49] [50] Some national and sub-national initiatives have also been undertaken to promote sports, such as Khelo India and the Chhattisgarhiya Olympics. [51] [52]
Women's sports have grown in South Asia with the advent of women's sporting leagues such as the Women's Kabaddi League and the Women's Premier League (cricket). [53]
Kabaddi is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players, originating in ancient India. The objective of the game is for a single player on offense, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their players as possible, and return to their own half of the court, all without being tackled by the defenders in 30 seconds. Points are scored for each player tagged by the raider, while the opposing team earns a point for stopping the raider. Players are taken out of the game if they are touched or tackled, but return to the game after each point scored by their team from a tag or tackle.
Kho kho is a traditional South Asian sport that dates to ancient India. It is the second-most popular traditional tag game in the Indian subcontinent after kabaddi. Kho kho is played on a rectangular court with a central lane connecting two poles which are at either end of the court. During the game, nine players from the chasing team are on the field, with eight of them sitting (crouched) in the central lane, while three runners from the defending team run around the court and try to avoid being touched. Each sitting player on the chasing team faces the opposite half of the field that their adjacent teammates are facing.
Association football and basketball are the most popular sports in Asia. Cricket is the third most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include baseball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the South Asian sports kabaddi and kho-kho, and sepak takraw in Southeast Asia. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
India has a history of sports dating back to the Vedic period, with Western sports having been imported during British rule. Cricket is the most popular spectator sport; it generates the highest television viewership, with the Indian Premier League (IPL) being the most-followed league in the country. Football has also gained popularity, with the Indian Super League (ISL) being the highest level of domestic football, and the national team winning multiple gold medals at the Asian and South Asian Games. Additional football accomplishments include India having reached the Groupstage of the 1960 Olympics, qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, and won the SAFF Championship. Other sports include kabaddi, badminton, tennis, and athletics, with kho-kho becoming the fourth-most viewed sport. India has also had success in field hockey, winning the World Cup and multiple medals in the Olympic Games. Sports such as golf, rugby, boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, motorsport, wrestling, and basketball are featured throughout the country.
Seven stones is a traditional game from the Indian subcontinent involving a ball and a pile of flat stones, generally played between two teams in a large outdoor area.
Kabaddi, is a contact sport, native to the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most popular sports in India, played mainly among village people. India has taken part in four Asian Games in kabaddi, and won gold in all.
The South Asian diaspora, also known as the Desi diaspora, is the group of people whose ancestral origins lie in South Asia, but who live outside the region. There are over 44 million people in this diaspora.
The India women's national kabaddi team represents India in international women's kabaddi competitions.
Popular games and sports in Pune include athletics, cricket, basketball, badminton, field hockey, football, tennis, kabaddi, paragliding, kho-kho, rowing and chess. The Pune International Marathon is an annual marathon conducted in Pune. The 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games were held in Pune.
Many sports are originated from Tamil Nadu played people from Tamil Nadu including both traditional sports and sports from other countries. Also Tamil Nadu is emerging as the Sports Capital State of Indian Subcontinent.
Sports play an integral part of culture in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Cricket is the most popular spectator sport in the state. Other popular sports include kabaddi and kho kho, which are played in rural areas, and field hockey, badminton, and table tennis, which are more common in urban areas, schools, and colleges. In the state's southern rural regions, annual wrestling championships such as Hind Kesari and Maharashtra Kesari are held. Games like Viti-Dandu and variations of Tag are played among children.
The culture of South Asia, also known as Desi culture, is a mixture of several cultures in and around the Indian subcontinent. Ancient South Asian culture was primarily based in Hinduism, which itself formed as a mixture of Vedic religion and indigenous traditions, and later Buddhist influences. From the medieval era onwards, influences from the Muslim world and then Europe also became prevalent.
Bengali traditional games are traditional games that are played in rural parts of the historical region of Bengal. These games are typically played outside with limited resources. Many games have similarities to other traditional South Asian games.
India and Pakistan are frequent rivals across a variety of sports, with matches between the two countries considered to be one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world, especially in cricket. The tense relations between the two nations which emerged from bitter diplomatic relationships and conflict that originated during the Partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947, the Indo-Pakistani Wars, and the Kashmir conflict established the foundations for the emergence of an intense sporting rivalry between the two nations.
Sports broadcasting contracts in India include:
India has several traditional games and sports, some of which have been played for thousands of years. Their popularity has greatly declined in the modern era, with Western sports having overtaken them during the British Raj, and the Indian government now making some efforts to revive them. Many of these games do not require much equipment or playing space. Some of them are only played in certain regions of India, or may be known by different names and played under different rules and regulations in different regions of the country. Many Indian games are also similar to other traditional South Asian games.
Pakistan has many traditional games played in the rural and urban areas of the country.
South Asia has many traditional games and sports. Two of them, kabaddi and kho-kho, are played at the South Asian Games, with kabaddi also featuring at the Asian Games. Many of these games are played across the entire subcontinent under different names and with some rule variations, while some of these games may be played only in certain countries or regions.
Kho kho is a popular traditional Indian game that is a variation of tag. Within India, it is played between states in the National Games of India and between franchise teams in the Ultimate Kho Kho league, which has the backing of the Kho Kho Federation of India. At the international level, India plays kho kho in the South Asian Games.
Cricket is the most popular sport in South Asia, with 90% of the sport's worldwide fans being in the region.
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