Hockey’s status in India

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It has long been debated whether hockey is the national game of India or not. As an integral part of India’s legacy, India has won numerous awards which were won for the first time by Major Dhyan Chand and his team. Since then, India has had ups and downs in its hockeyhistory, and is currently undergoing a revival. But is hockey India’s national game? National games have an intrinsic association with the nation, such as sumo wrestling in Japan, and jiu-jitsu and capoeira in Brazil.

However, hockey is not the national game of India, as India doesn’t recognize any sport as one. Hence, while hockey, cricket and kabaddi are often mistaken to be the national game, none of them are. This is because the government does not intend to promote or encourage any one sport over another.

This has come to light after a Right to Information (RTI) petition was filed in 2020, by a school teacher, Mayuresh Agrawal, from Dhule, Maharashtra, who wanted to know when hockey was declared the national sport. The response from the Union Ministry of Youth revealed the governments neutral stance towards all “popular sport disciplines”.

The cultural diversity of India and its high population have resulted in various sports being played in different corners of the country, with sport being a uniting factor. With the national hockey and cricket team boasting of players from all corners of the nation, it remains debatable as to whether India should declare a national sport at all. China too lacks a national sport, though table tennis is often mistaken for it.

The arguments for hockey being the national sport are strong, with India having won the highest number of Olympic gold medals in hockey and being unbeatable from 1928 to 1956. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, India is known to have conceded only one goal in the entire tournament. However, cricket currently enjoys higher popularity, with important matches considered to be unofficial holidays. Kabaddi, which has been a popular folk-game in history, has also seen a rise in popularity with events like the Pro Kabaddi League. For now, though, India lacks a national game.