Sports in West Bengal

Salt Lake Stadium – Yuva Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata

Sports in West Bengal has its own importance. Cricket and football are the most popular sports in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Football

Main article: Football in West Bengal

Unlike in other Indian states where cricket is considered as the most popular game with some exceptions, football is the most popular game in West Bengal. ^{[1] [2] [3]} It can be considered as the football hub of India and houses many clubs like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting Club. ^{[4] [5]}

Cricket

As mostly in India, cricket is immensely popular among the masses of west Bengal. It houses the Eden Gardens stadium which is the largest cricket stadium in India. Eden gardens can house more than 100,000 people and is one of the only two 100,000-seat cricket amphitheaters in the world. ^[6] Eden gardens is also the home for the East Zone and Bengal Cricket team. It also houses the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders bought by Shah Rukh Khan which uses Eden gardens as its home turf. Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world. ^[7]

Panoramic view of the Eden Gardens Stadium during IPL 2008

Other games

Indian sports like kho kho and kabaddi are also popular among the masses here.

Polo

The oldest polo club of the world, Calcutta Polo Club is also present here. ^[8]

Golf

Outside Great Britain the Royal Calcutta Golf Club is the oldest of its kind. ^[9]

Stadiums

• Eden Gardens is used mainly for cricket.
• Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, a multi-use stadium, is the world's second highest-capacity football stadium. ^{[10] [11]}
• Kishore Bharati Krirangan, a multi-purpose stadium, used mainly for football.
• Kanchenjunga Stadium, a multi-purpose stadium in Siliguri, West Bengal.
• Durgapur, Siliguri and Kharagpur also hold various national and international sports events. ^[12]

Notable persons

• Dola Banerjee - archer
• P.K. Banerjee - footballer
• Rahul Banerjee - archer
• Swapna Barman - gold medal winner of heptathlon in 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia
• Dibyendu Barua - chess grand master
• Sourav Ganguly - former Indian national cricket captain
• Chuni Goswami - footballer
• Sailen Manna - footballer
• Leander Paes - Olympic tennis bronze medallist
• Pankaj Roy - former Indian cricketer
• Mohammed Ali Qamar - the first Indian to win a gold medal in the discipline of boxing in the Commonwealth Games
• Wriddhiman Saha - Indian cricketer ^[13]
• Mihir Sen - swimmer
• Masudur Rahman Baidya - swimmer
• Jyotirmoyee Sikdar - athlete and winner of gold medals at the Asian Games
• Manoj Tiwary - Indian cricketer
• Jhulan Goswami - former captain of India national women's cricket team
• Syed Rahim Nabi - former Indian national team footballer
• Saurav Ghosal - Squash player
• Sukalyan Ghosh Dastidar - former Indian national team footballer
• Achinta Sheuli - Indian Weightlifter
• Mehtab Hossain - former footballer

See also

• Bengali traditional games

References

1. Dineo, Paul; Mills, James (2001). Soccer in South Asia: empire, nation, diaspora. London: Frank Cass Publishers. p. 71. ISBN   978-0-7146-8170-2.
2. Bose, Mihir (2006). The magic of Indian cricket: cricket and society in India. Psychology Press. p. 240. ISBN   978-0-415-35691-6.
3. Das Sharma, Amitabha (2002). "Football and the big fight in Kolkata" (PDF). Football Studies. 5 (2): 57. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
4. "Indian Football Clubs". Iloveindia.com. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
5. Prabhakaran, Shaji (18 January 2003). "Football in India – A Fact File". LongLiveSoccer.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
6. "India – Eden Gardens (Kolkata)". Cricket Web. Archived from the original on 31 May 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
7. Raju, Mukherji (14 March 2005). "Seven Years? Head Start". Calcutta, India: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
8. "History of Polo". Hurlingham Polo Association. Archived from the original on 18 August 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
9. "Royal Calcutta Golf Club". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
10. "100 000+ Stadiums". World Stadiums. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
11. "The Asian Football Stadiums (30.000+ capacity)". Gunther Lades. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
12. "Sports & Adventure". West Bengal Tourism. Archived from the original on 28 November 2006. Retrieved 22 October 2006.
13. "Famous Indian Football Players". Iloveindia.com. Retrieved 26 October 2006.