5 Most Popular European Sports in India
Centuries ago Europeans came to India for spices, natural resources, immense wealth, and now they come for surreal yoga-temples-spirituality. Centuries of colonization has impacted the lives of 1.4 billion Indians, even in sports. Here are 5 European sports in which India is recognized globally.
Cricket: Origin country England
Cricket is a ubiquitous and unofficial national game of India. There is no state left which has no participation in this game. Total value of IPL (Indian Premier League is about $6.2B, surpassing English Premier League as second most lucrative sports league. Now cost per IPL match is valued at $13.4million, only after NFL- National Football League which is valued at $17million per match, followed by EPL- English Premier League $11million, MLB- Major League Baseball at 9 Million and NBA- National Basketball Association at $2 million.
Needless to say, cricket is the most preferred sport for online sport betting across the Indian Subcontinent. One should be updated on Dafabet bookies India, to keep themselves ahead among the millions of punters.
Football: Origin country Scotland
Though the game was invented by Scotland in the mid-17th century, the credit of popularising goes to England, though English claim complete right over football since when Scotland started playing football it was indeed part of England. Football, aka Soccer, perhaps most played and followed sport across the world has:
- roughly 3.5 billion fans
- 250 million players
- 200 countries playing
- $6.83 Billion expected revenue in 2022-23
Nevertheless, Football is no match to Cricket in India. 3-things that struck the mind of every Indian sport fan, are Mohun Bagan, Indian Super League and Sunil Chhetri. Football has a good fan following in Indian cities, but it fails to penetrate the rural India.
Field Hockey: Origin country England
In 1928 on its maiden Olympic voyage, the Indian hockey team clinched the gold medal as well as subsequent tournaments of 1932, 1936. India accomplished its 2nd hat-trick in 1948, 1952 and 1956. With all this International fame, Indian Hockey failed to reach the popularity pinnacle of cricket. To revive the Hockey in India, HIL- Hockey India League was incorporated with 6 teams. Due to lack of public support and sponsorship, the IHL was terminated in 2017. But the recent success of Indian women’s and men’s hockey teams at Tokyo Olympics has kindled the hopes for minority Field hockey fans of India. Indian Hockey wizard, Dhanraj Pillay visits Jamshedpur, and said “Hockey League must be conducted on IPL format”.
Tennis: Origin country France
Descendant of jeu de paume, invented in France in the 11th century, Tennis is one of the popular sports in India. Tennis is considered as the sports of elite class and it is still limited to cities, where membership costs at least few thousand. Yet Tennis has a considerable following in India. Indian Tennis players have achieved international recognition and have made their presence felt in top Tennis tournaments as well as all four Grand Slams. Chennai Open, Delhi Open and International Premier Tennis League are the most famous Tennis tournaments in the country.
Badminton: Origin country England
Yet another European sport, that is famous in India because of British colonization. The game is named for Badminton, the country estate of the dukes of Beaufort in Gloucestershire, England. It’s earlier known as battledore and shuttlecock. Badminton is that one of the few International sports, which is played globally and India has built a good reputation in playing. Don’t know when the Digital sports wold take-out the sports field, till then, let us enjoy the real game on the field.
