What India was crazy about: Hockey first, Cricket later, Football, Kabaddi now? (2024)

India has always been a sports-crazy nation for the past 70 years but gradually evolved into a country that became obsessed with cricket after the tremendous success the game saw over the years.

By Ranit Das: India has always been a sports-crazy nation which gradually evolved into a country that became obsessed with cricket.

One might say it was due to the success or maybe because of the glamour attached to it. But cricket's rise since the early half of the 1970s has not stopped and it remains the most popular and enjoyed sport in the country for now. (70 years of Independence: India's most decorated sporting heroes in the modern era)

One might say that there are odd times when sports like Badminton, Wrestling and Kabaddi overshadowed the gentleman's game but ultimately its popularity remain unparalleled.

But what about the times before and just after independence? When India did not play that much cricket? Here's a look at how Indians fell in love with different sport before finally settling for cricket. (70 years of Independence: 7 decades of sporting glory)

HOCKEY

Hockey was widely followed and played pre-independence and subsequent teams post-1947 brought plenty of laurels to the country.

India was the first non-European team to be a part of the International Hockey Federation. In 1928, India won its first Olympic gold medal. And from 1928 to 1956, the men's team remained unbeaten in the Olympics. Not only that, they won six gold medals in a row. India won a total of eight gold, one silver and two bronze medals in Olympics.

However, the sport is struggling now and barring a few good shows here and there, the men's hockey team has failed to live up to the golden era of hockey that the nation saw during those 28 years.

It can largely be attributed to the lack of infrastructure and honestly the craze for the game in the country. If you ask a kid what his favourite sport is, he will more often than not say cricket...with football coming second maybe. Field Hockey has failed to garner attention despite of the board's best attention by building a hugely popular Indian Premier League inspired Hockey India League (HIL). A sport cannot prosper if the people fail to connect with it and that's exactly what hockey has suffered after the early success.

FOOTBALL

'The Beautiful Game' remains the most popular and played sport in the whole world but India's fascination for the sport overshadowed its love for cricket after the golden era it enjoyed.

The Indian team was formed early in the 1930s and it used to tour outside to play games. After independence, the country qualified for the 1950 World Cup but AIFF (All India Football Federation) withdrew its participation due to various reasons that it cited. However, it is said that India decided to withdraw due to the reason that players were not allowed to play bare footed.

Indian football prospered but never got any major honours to show for it. The best achievement one could say was the 4th place finish in the 1956 Summer Games in Australia. It also finished fourth in the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo.

India's steady decline started after the 1970s and continued for a while until the early 2000s when the team slowly started getting new players and football was slowly regaining the lost ground in the hearts of the public. The country has been graced by legends like Diego Maradona, Pele, Ronaldinho, Ryan Giggs and the list goes on. But crowds of the late 1960s and 1970s are no longer seen in the stands. Yes, games like the Kolkata Derby between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan still see huge crowds but that is perhaps the only game that sees such numbers gracing a football field.

However, the Indian Super League (ISL) has helped the sport in a large way since its inception in 2013. It has helped the sport regain some of the lost ground to cricket but again the crowds keep getting smaller every year, failing to live up to the first season when the stadiums were jam-packed.

India have reached the ranking of 96 in the world thanks to some brilliant performances from Sunil Chhetri and his boys. Not only that, India will also host the Under-17 World Cup in October and it is expected that the stadiums will have a decent turnout...which the game really needs. Former FIFA president Sepp Bllater said that India is the sleeping giant of football and the time has come that the country helps its boys to make a mark in the world of football once again.

CRICKET

Well, this remains the most followed sport in the country. Every other person wants to be a cricketer and don the famous Blue jersey.

India was granted Test status in 1932. The team was led by CK Naidu and we played our first game against England at the Lord's. We lost the match by 158 runs. Since then India have gone onto play 514 Test matches, winning 141 of them, losing 158 and drawing 214. They're the current World No. 1 side and under Virat Kohli, the team is playing some really good cricket.

But, this was always not the case. Despite producing some greats in the early 1950s and 1960s, the sport was not the most followed and loved by its citizens. The game gradually gained popularity in the early 1970s after the arrival of greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Gundappa Viswanath...so on and so forth. It took us a bit of time to win a major trophy but once we did, the sport has been the country's favourite.

Kapil led India to its first World Cup win at the Mecca of Cricket in 1983 -- ending West Indies' domination in the World Cups. Since then it took us 28 years to get out hands on the cup again.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni led India to its second World Cup win on April 2, 2011 in a historic night at the Wankhede and since then the team has achieved a lot in all the formats of the game.

The game remains the most loved and followed sport in the country -- thanks to the humongous following it has garnered. The Indian Premier League which recently completed 10 years also has to be given credit for allowing more people to come in and make a name for themselves. It has successfully mixed the two worlds -- sports and entertainment and since its first season in 2008, it has only grown bigger and better. 8 to 80 -- people of all ages enjoy the glamour up for show during the two months and it has shown no signs of stopping yet.

BADMINTON, KABADDI, WRESTLING

These are the sports Indians really love to follow when the topic is hot. Sadly, they fail to maintain the hype once the headlines are gone.

PV Sindhu's silver at the Rio Games in 2016 made her an instant hit here but very few would be able to say what she's doing right now. People stood up and noticed the likes of Saskhi Malik, when she settled for Bronze in the Summer Games in 2016 but much like Sindhu, she also remains a name people are aware of.

Kabaddi on the other hand has been on the rise for a while. India have dominated the World Cups, winning three in a row and the Pro Kabaddi League has maintained the interest it has generated since its first season as well.

So the bottom-line is that toppling cricket in this country is going to be really tough but Indians do love their sports and can proudly say that they're not restricted to one or two in particular. Even though, less, Indians have won wherever they have gone and left a mark in the heart of the people in the last 70 years.