National Sport of India - Hockey

Field hockey is the official national sport in India, and the country has won eight Olympic gold medals in field hockey, though cricket is the most popular sport. After the 1982 Asian Games hosted in New Delhi, the capital city now has modern sports facilities, and similar facilities are also being developed in other parts of the country. Besides sports and games included in the international sporting agenda, there are many which have developed indigenously and continue to be popular.
A wide variety of sports is played throughout the country. These include kabbadi, kho kho, pehlwani, and gilli-danda. British rule brought many popular sports in India including football, rugby union, cricket, golf, tennis, squash, hockey, boxing, snooker, and billiards.
India has hosted or co-hosted several international sporting events, such as the 1951 Asian Games and the 1982 Asian Games, the 1987 Cricket World Cup and 1996 Cricket World Cup, the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, the 2010 Hockey World Cup, the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Major international sporting events annually held in India include the Chennai Open, Mumbai Marathon, Delhi Half Marathon, and the Indian Masters. India also hosted its first Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit, an Indian motor racing circuit in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
India is also home to cricket's Indian Premier League, launched in 2008. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is the second richest sporting organization in the world (second only to