Field Hockey is the National Sport of India. The country has 8 Gold Medals in Hockey. Although Cricket seems to be more popular game in India, Hockey is the official one. Other than hockey, the sports which originated in India are Kabbadi, Kho Kho, Pehlwani and Gilli-Danda. On May 2009, Hockey India was formed, which is the sole body of the country to govern and conduct all activities for both men’s and women’s hockey in India. India dominated International Hockey by winning the World Cup in 1975. The Indian player Dhyan Chand, the most famous Indian hockey player, was described as a ‘wizard’ by the European press. The India national field hockey team is the national men’s team representing field hockey in India. It is the first non-European team to be a part of the International Hockey Federation.
In this game, two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent’s goal using a hockey stick. Other than Field Hockey, There are certain subtypes of this game, namely Ice Hockey, Inline Hockey, Roller Hockey, Street Hockey, Sledge Hockey etc. Some of the prominent Indian Hockey Players are Dhyan Chand, Balbir Singh, Ajit Pal Singh, Leslie Claudius, Dhanraj Pillay, Gagan Ajit Singh, K. D. Singh Babu, Udham Singh, Zafar Iqbal, Prithipal Singh, Jalaluddin Rizvi, Dilip Tirkey, Roop Singh, Mir Ranjan and many others.