Sport in South Asia



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. Football is followed passionately in some parts of South Asia, such as Kerala and Bengal. Field hockey was popular for several decades, with some of South Asia's greatest sporting accomplishments having taken place in this sport. 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.

Ancient and medieval period
Some martial arts were practiced during this time period, such as kalaripayattu. Several variations of tag were played at the time, with kho-kho having been mentioned in the fourth century BCE, and atya-patya around 300 CE; some of them were used for military training purposes. The board game chaturanga formed the foundation of the modern game of chess, and was also used as strategic training for war; it travelled towards Europe and China under Persian and then Arab influence.

Colonial period
British colonisation of South Asia introduced several British sports into the subcontinent, such as cricket, football, and hockey, causing a decline for the local sports. Some of the local sports began to be standardised during this period in Maharashtra. Some South Asian board games were transmitted overseas, such as the games now known as ludo and snakes and ladders.

Contemporary period
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. The introduction of Twenty20 cricket, a format that greatly reduced playing time, 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. Cricket also grew in Afghanistan with the return of refugees who had learned the sport in Pakistan.

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.

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), such as the Pro Kabaddi League, which has significantly grown kabaddi, as well as Ultimate Kho Kho and the Pro Panja League for arm wrestling. Kabaddi in particular has begun to spread globally, with non-South Asian countries becoming successful at the sport. 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. Some national and sub-national initiatives have also been undertaken to promote sports in South Asia, such as Khelo India and the Chhattisgarhiya Olympics.

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).