By Ritika Chhabria
Cricket is in our blood, hockey is widely played, kho kho and kabbadi is something we all know about.there are some sports that are practiced in India and elsewhere which are not that widely known. Here are a few of the lesser known sports in our country
Yubi Lakpi
It is a traditional game played in Manipur which has similarities to rugby. The game is played with an oiled coconut. The game literally means ‘coconut snatching’.
Kambala Buffalo Race
This involves two pairs of buffaloes racing in a paddy field filled with mud and slush, controlled by a whip-lashing farmer. Very popular in rural Karnataka.
Canadian Football
A form of gridiron football played in Canada, two teams of 12 players each play on a ground of 110 yards. This is similar to American football but not exactly the same, has some underlying rules that are different.
Lacrosse
A sport including 10 players playing with a crosse(lacrosse stick) and a lacrosse ball. The ball consists of a mesh at the end which helps in holding and passing the ball.
Behcup
Behcup is a sport that is similar to putting in golf; the only difference is, in behcup balls are putted through a goal line and not into a hole. The objective of the sport is to guide a ball positioned by an opponent, into the goal line.
Camel Racing
Horse racing is pretty common, this is racing with the jockey on a camel. It is very popular in Arab countries and Australia.
Drone Racing
Drone Racing is a sport in which competitors race with specially built multi-rotor drones around a natural or specifically designed course.
Fricket
Like the name suggests, it is a combination of Frisbee and cricket. Fricket is a ‘two-on-two’ disc game that is popularly known as disc cricket, this game is played between two teams with two players each and with the help of flying discs.
Jianzi
The sport is named after the object that is used to play the sport with, called Jianzi, which loosely resembles a weighted shuttlecock. How you win it is by to always keepong the Jianzi in air by striking it predominantly with legs. Other body parts except hands can also be used to strike the jianzi.
Ball Hockey
Closely related to ice hockey, this game is played on a non-ice surface with a ball instead of a puck. 5 players and goaltender make a team, both teams play to score the most number of goals.
These are just some of the lesser known sports that are compiled. There are other sports like polo, with its variations water polo and others, and other games like 3- sided football, among others which are not even played now-a-days. Hope this inspired you to at least check the other variants!
