Sports

Sports of all kinds are very popular in Hyderabad. From hockey, to football, cricket, tennis, and volleyball, everything is played and practiced at a large number owing to the growth of a number of sports and recreational centers. Visakha International Cricket Stadium is the new stadium for hosting international cricket matches in Hyderabad, which has been renamed into Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium now. Some of the stadiums in Hyderabad with world class facilities were built when the city was selected to host the National Games in 2002. The 2003 Afro-Asian Games were also hosted here in the city of Hyderabad. Today Hyderabad has innumerable sports venues. The Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium is one of the earliest stadiums built in the city. It was previously known as the Fateh Maidan, and was the only stadium of the city of Hyderabad to host international cricket matches. Swarnandhra Pradesh Sports Complex and the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium also dwell in the city hosting a number of sports events



Cricket



Cricket has its root in the city of Hyderabad since ages giving birth to a number of cricket starts like Md. Azharuddin, V. Raju, and V.V.S. Laxman. Introduced by the British army in 1880, cricket today, is not only a popular game in Hyderabad but its treated like a religion in all over India. Football is also a very popular game in this part of India. Due to lack of world class equipments, today football has lost its charm and popularity here.


Tennis



Who would not want to play tennis in Hyderabad after the successive success of Sania Mirza in the international tennis? The city of Hyderabad has many stadiums to practice tennis. But the main one is the Tennis Complex at Fatehmaidan. With every facility of international standards, the Tennis Complex, Fatehmaidan have 7 top class synthetic surfaces where international and national matches are played. The Tennis Complex at Fatehmaidan can accommodate up to 4000 spectators. The stadium becomes full house on all the important matches played here.


Football



Football in India is one of the most popular sports at the domestic level. Crowds like 70,000 to 100,000 can be frequently observed at a match being played in any part of India, especially in Kerala and Bengal. Football is an enigma for all those who are ardent follower of this game. A recorded crowd of 131,000 flocked to the Yuba Bharti Krirangan, also known as the Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta, in 1997 July to witness the KBL-Federation Cup semifinal between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. Exciting crowds are often seen cheering in the support of their favorite teams.
There are several smaller football centers in Goa, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. A crowd numbering to 25,000 to 35,000 is often seen during the important matches. Today the most popular clubs that play football are East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Salgaocar, Mohammedan Sporting, Dempo Goa, JCT, and F.C. Kochin. Hyderabad City Police was a very popular club in its earlier days. It holds a recorded of winning several matches and was cheered by its supporters in huge numbers.