The Most Popular Sports in India (Top 22 Ranked)

Athletics leads India with 4688 total participations in the khelo india games program in 2025, ahead of Football and Hockey. Ranking of 22 sports.

This page ranks the sports of India by one number that is collected the same way for all of them: The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports counts every athlete participation recorded across all official editions of the Khelo India School, Youth and University Games for each discipline, which makes the figures directly comparable across sports because they come from the same government tracking system. The figures come from Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India.

Athletics is on top, followed by Football and Hockey. The full table below covers 22 sports, and every section further down names the source for the figure it uses.

The Most Popular Sports in India

The table counts total participations in the khelo india games program, not people who say they like a sport. It is the figure that is published the same way for every sport in the list, which is what makes the rows comparable. The listed sports account for 61,480 in total. The reference year is 2025.

#	Sport	Total participations in the Khelo India Games program	Governing body
1	Athletics	4688	Athletics Federation of India
2	Football	3993	All India Football Federation
3	Hockey	3717	Hockey India
4	Wrestling	3145	Wrestling Federation of India
5	Boxing	2718	Boxing Federation of India
6	Volleyball	2573	Volleyball Federation of India
7	Basketball	2471	Basketball Federation of India
8	Kabaddi	2449	Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India
9	Swimming	2337	Swimming Federation of India
10	Weightlifting	2270	Indian Weightlifting Federation
11	Judo	2187	Judo Federation of India
12	Kho-Kho	2111	Kho Kho Federation of India
13	Shooting	1808	National Rifle Association of India
14	Gymnastics	1352	Gymnastics Federation of India
15	Archery	1257	Archery Association of India
16	Fencing	1188	Fencing Association of India
17	Badminton	1185	Badminton Association of India
18	Mallakhamb	1163	Mallakhamb Federation of India
19	Table Tennis	878	Table Tennis Federation of India
20	Cycling	860	Cycling Federation of India
21	Tennis	855	All India Tennis Association
22	Kalaripayattu	756	Kalaripayattu Federation of India

One caveat applies to every ranking of this kind: someone who plays two sports is counted twice, once in each federation, and sports people mostly do on their own, such as running or hiking, barely show up at all.

Most Played and Most Watched Are Not the Same Sport

Membership and license numbers tell you what people do. Audience figures tell you what they watch, and the two lists rarely have the same sport on top.

Sport	Figure	What it measures
Cricket	169 million	The 2025 Indian Premier League final was watched by a record number of television viewers in India.
Kabaddi	226 million	Season 10 of the Pro Kabaddi League reached a large national television audience across its opening matches.
Football	157.2 million	The Indian Super League drew a large unique television and digital audience in its most recent season.

Is There a National Sport of India?

India has no national sport laid down by law or by government decision. The Indian government has never legally declared any sport as the country’s national game.

• Cricket. Cricket has by far the largest sports audience base in India, making it the de facto national sport even though it holds no legal status.

Sports That Were Invented in India

• Kabaddi. Kabaddi is an indigenous Indian team sport with roots that predate its formal codification in the twentieth century.
• Kho-Kho. Kho-Kho is a chasing game native to India that was standardized into its modern form by a Pune sports club.
• Chess. Modern chess traces its origins to chaturanga, a strategy game that originated in ancient India.
• Snooker. Snooker was devised by a British officer stationed in India and first played there before spreading internationally.

#1 Athletics

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 4688 (Athletics Federation of India, 2025)
• Best known athlete: Neeraj Chopra. Chopra is the first Indian track and field athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, taking the javelin throw title at the Tokyo Games, and later became the first Indian to win gold at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest

Athletics recorded 4688 total participations across all editions of the Khelo India Games tracked by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the highest figure of any discipline in the program as of 2025.

The sport spans track and field events run through school, district and state structures feeding into the Khelo India pipeline, with national federations organizing age group and open championships throughout the year.

#2 Football

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 3993 (All India Football Federation, 2025)
• Top national league: Indian Super League
• Best known athlete: Sunil Chhetri. Chhetri is India’s all time leading international goalscorer and captained the national team for over a decade before retiring from international football in 2024

Football logged 3993 participations in the Khelo India Games as of 2025, placing it second among all disciplines tracked by the program.

The Indian Super League is the top domestic competition, running alongside state league structures and the youth pathway that channels players toward the national team.

#3 Hockey

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 3717 (Hockey India, 2025)
• Top national league: Hockey India League
• Best known athlete: Balbir Singh Sr.. Balbir Singh Sr. won Olympic gold with the Indian men’s hockey team at the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Games and scored five goals in the 1952 final, still an Olympic record for a hockey final

Hockey recorded 3717 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, keeping it among the leading disciplines in the government program.

The sport carries a long competitive history in India, with Hockey India running national leagues and age group tournaments that feed the talent pool tracked through Khelo India.

#4 Wrestling

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 3145 (Wrestling Federation of India, 2025)
• Top national league: Pro Wrestling League
• Best known athlete: Sushil Kumar. Sushil Kumar became the first Indian to win two individual Olympic medals, taking bronze at Beijing 2008 and silver at London 2012 in freestyle wrestling

Wrestling recorded 3145 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, the fourth highest total among tracked disciplines.

Village level akhara training feeds into the modern competitive structure, with the Wrestling Federation of India organizing national championships alongside the Khelo India talent pipeline.

#5 Boxing

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 2718 (Boxing Federation of India, 2025)
• Best known athlete: Mary Kom. Mary Kom is a six time world amateur boxing champion and became the first Indian woman boxer to win an Olympic medal, taking bronze at London 2012

Boxing recorded 2718 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, ranking fifth among the disciplines the program tracks.

State boxing academies and the Boxing Federation of India run the competitive ladder from school level bouts up to the senior national championships.

#6 Volleyball

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 2573 (Volleyball Federation of India, 2025)
• Top national league: Prime Volleyball League
• Best known athlete: Jimmy George. Jimmy George captained the Indian national team and became the first Indian to play professional volleyball abroad, joining Italian club Pallavolo Treviso in the country’s top division

Volleyball recorded 2573 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, placing it sixth in the government tracking system.

The Prime Volleyball League gives the sport a national professional stage, while school and university tournaments continue to be the main entry point for new players.

#7 Basketball

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 2471 (Basketball Federation of India, 2025)
• Top national league: UBA Pro Basketball League
• Best known athlete: Satnam Singh Bhamara. Satnam Singh Bhamara became the first India born player selected in an NBA draft when the Dallas Mavericks picked him in 2015

Basketball recorded 2471 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, keeping it inside the top ten disciplines by that measure.

School and college leagues remain the sport’s main base in India, with domestic professional competitions still building a following alongside the youth pipeline.

#8 Kabaddi

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 2449 (Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India, 2025)
• Top national league: Pro Kabaddi League
• Best known athlete: Pardeep Narwal. Narwal is the Pro Kabaddi League’s career leader in raid points, a record built over ten seasons before his retirement in 2025

Kabaddi recorded 2449 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, an eighth place finish among tracked disciplines.

The sport has an indigenous Indian origin and now runs on two parallel tracks, traditional state championships and the professional Pro Kabaddi League broadcast nationwide.

#9 Swimming

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 2337 (Swimming Federation of India, 2025)
• Best known athlete: Sajan Prakash. Sajan Prakash became the first Indian swimmer to achieve an Olympic qualifying time on merit, doing so at the 2021 Sette Colli Trophy in Rome to reach the Tokyo Games

Swimming recorded 2337 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, ranking ninth among the program’s tracked disciplines.

Aquatic centres built under state sports programs and the Khelo India infrastructure push have widened access to competitive swimming outside the traditionally strong southern states.

#10 Weightlifting

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 2270 (Indian Weightlifting Federation, 2025)
• Best known athlete: Mirabai Chanu. Mirabai Chanu won Olympic silver at Tokyo 2020 in the 49kg category and had already become only the second Indian to win a World Weightlifting Championships gold medal, in 2017

Weightlifting recorded 2270 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, a tenth place ranking among the tracked disciplines.

State lifting academies in the northeast have become a major source of new competitors, feeding into the national training centres run under the Khelo India scheme.

#11 Judo

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 2187 (Judo Federation of India, 2025)

Judo recorded 2187 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, placing it eleventh among the disciplines the program tracks.

Northeastern states have produced a large share of India’s competitive judoka, and the sport is included in the Khelo India talent identification structure.

#12 Kho-Kho

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 2111 (Kho Kho Federation of India, 2025)
• Top national league: Ultimate Kho Kho

Kho-Kho recorded 2111 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, a twelfth place finish among tracked disciplines.

The sport is indigenous to India and has moved from school playgrounds into a broadcast professional league, the Ultimate Kho Kho competition, while still running through the Khelo India youth pathway.

#13 Shooting

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 1808 (National Rifle Association of India, 2025)
• Best known athlete: Abhinav Bindra. Abhinav Bindra won the 10m air rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal

Shooting recorded 1808 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, ranking thirteenth among the program’s disciplines.

Shooting ranges built through state sports authorities and the Khelo India infrastructure push have supported a growing base of junior competitors across rifle, pistol and shotgun events.

#14 Gymnastics

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 1352 (Gymnastics Federation of India, 2025)
• Best known athlete: Dipa Karmakar. Dipa Karmakar became the first Indian female gymnast to compete at the Olympics, finishing fourth in the vault final at Rio 2016 after landing the difficult Produnova vault

Gymnastics recorded 1352 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, a fourteenth place ranking among tracked disciplines.

Dedicated Khelo India centres of excellence have added artistic gymnastics equipment and coaching in several states, widening the sport’s base beyond its traditional strongholds.

#15 Archery

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 1257 (Archery Association of India, 2025)
• Best known athlete: Deepika Kumari. Deepika Kumari has repeatedly held the world number one ranking in women’s recurve archery and has won multiple Archery World Cup gold medals across her career

Archery recorded 1257 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, placing it fifteenth among the program’s tracked disciplines.

Tribal belt states such as Jharkhand have produced a large share of India’s competitive archers, supported by residential academies linked to the Khelo India network.

#16 Fencing

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 1188 (Fencing Association of India, 2025)
• Best known athlete: Bhavani Devi. Bhavani Devi became the first fencer to represent India at the Olympics, competing in the women’s individual sabre at Tokyo 2020 and winning her opening bout

Fencing recorded 1188 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, a sixteenth place ranking among tracked disciplines.

The sport is still building its base in India, with Khelo India centres among the main places where young fencers get access to coaching and equipment.

#17 Badminton

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 1185 (Badminton Association of India, 2025)
• Top national league: Premier Badminton League
• Best known athlete: PV Sindhu. PV Sindhu is the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals in an individual event, a silver at Rio 2016 and a bronze at Tokyo 2020, and she also won the 2019 BWF World Championships title

Badminton recorded 1185 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, ranking seventeenth among the disciplines the program tracks.

The Premier Badminton League gives the sport a domestic professional platform, while the Badminton Association of India oversees the state and national junior circuit that feeds the Khelo India pipeline.

#18 Mallakhamb

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 1163 (Mallakhamb Federation of India, 2025)

Mallakhamb recorded 1163 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, an eighteenth place finish among tracked disciplines.

The sport is a traditional Indian pole and rope gymnastics discipline that the Khelo India program has actively promoted as part of its indigenous games push.

#19 Table Tennis

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 878 (Table Tennis Federation of India, 2025)
• Top national league: Ultimate Table Tennis
• Best known athlete: Manika Batra. Manika Batra won individual and team gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and became the first Indian table tennis player to reach the round of 16 at the Olympics, at Paris 2024

Table tennis recorded 878 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, a nineteenth place ranking among the program’s disciplines.

The Ultimate Table Tennis league runs alongside school and university competitions, giving the sport both a professional showcase and a broad grassroots base.

#20 Cycling

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 860 (Cycling Federation of India, 2025)
• Best known athlete: Esow Alben. Esow Alben became the first Indian to win a medal at the Junior Track Cycling World Championships, adding a sprint silver and a team sprint gold at the 2019 edition

Cycling as a sport recorded 860 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, ranking twentieth among tracked disciplines.

Track cycling centres set up under the Khelo India infrastructure program, including the velodrome used for national events, have helped expand the competitive base beyond road cycling.

#21 Tennis

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 855 (All India Tennis Association, 2025)
• Best known athlete: Leander Paes. Leander Paes won Olympic bronze in singles at Atlanta 1996 and went on to win doubles titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments over his career

Tennis recorded 855 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, a twenty-first place finish among the program’s disciplines.

India’s tennis base remains concentrated around private academies and the All India Tennis Association circuit, with the Khelo India scheme adding a state level junior pathway.

#22 Kalaripayattu

• Total participations in the Khelo India Games program: 756 (Kalaripayattu Federation of India, 2025)

Kalaripayattu recorded 756 Khelo India Games participations as of 2025, closing out the top group of disciplines tracked by the program.

The martial art is traditionally associated with Kerala and has been included in the Khelo India Games as part of the effort to preserve and promote indigenous Indian sports.

Sources

• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India
• SportsPro, citing Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data
• Pro Kabaddi League official website
• YouGov
• Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Right to Information reply dated 15 January 2020, reported by The Quint
• Ormax Media, The Ormax Sports Audience Report 2024
• Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India
• Nav Maharashtra Sangh, Pune
• World Chess
• Billiards and Snooker Federation of India
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Khelo India Dashboard, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

Figures on this page come from national federations and statistics offices and are only as current as their latest published report. Last reviewed: August 2026.

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