India is a unique market. With more than 1 billion inhabitants, its culture and interests differ quite a lot from the rest of the world. All over the globe, people enjoy soccer, basketball, tennis, and baseball and NFL in America, and enjoy casual betting on those sports. As far as India goes the situation is quite different. The leader of the South Asian region approaches both the sports and the betting aspects of them from a different direction. Here are the most popular sports to watch and bet on in India.
Cricket
There’s no surprise here. India is a cricket nation. Cricket is not a sport in India. It is a part of the culture. Since the age of British colonialism, locals have embraced it, and made it a part of their identity. To this day, cricket is a major part of both the Indian tradition and history. It comes as no surprise that the Indian Premier League is the world’s premium cricket competition. Players such as Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar are some of the best who have ever played the game. Indians take a lot of pride in this sport, and for many, cricket is a way of life. It is a sport that is played on every level of society. Majority of websites that have a say in the online betting India provides have their focus on cricket first, and other sports after it.
Kabaddi
The chances are, if you’re not Indian you will not be familiar with Kabaddi. Yet, in India it is one of the more popular sports. Truly a peculiar culture of one of the most populated areas in the world. While you might think that we’re talking about a novelty in the world of sports, we’re talking about a discipline that has been around for centuries. The sport is played professionally in India, and it attracts more than 400 million of TV viewers, with only IPL being better in that domain. The professional league as we know it today was launched in 2014 and after a decade is aiming to take the cricket’s throne. Will it happen? It’s hard to say, but anything is possible. While a popular sport in India, you have most likely not heard of it. So, the only way to get in touch is to watch a duel of Kabaddi.
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01 Aug 2025
Soccer
Well, it appears that viewers and bettors in India are not so different from the rest of us after all. As you could have guessed, soccer came to India from England. Maybe we should call it football? Either way, Indians love the sports that they feel as their own. While popular, soccer is nowhere near the popularity of cricket or kabaddi. The main reason is that their national team has not had any success in international tournaments. Also, their domestic league is subpar to say at least. When compared to cricket it is as if it doesn’t exist at all. The fact that India never made it to the World Cup despite the population it has is not seen as disheartening by the locals, as they do not pay too much attention to the sport in the first place.
Badminton
Another sport that is not topping the charts globally has found its foothold in India. After cricket, badminton is the second most played sport in India. It is played all over the country, and the number of viewers who watch international competitions and the sport on the highest level grows too. When you take all of it into account, the number of bettors grows too, both domestic and international alike. What Indians love about the sport is that some of their own are the best players in the world. You’ve probably heard of Saina Nehwal, Srikanth Kidambi, and Pusarla Venkata Sindhu.
Field hockey
India truly is a peculiar sports market. While cricket is the king of all sport, field hockey is seen as the national sport. Its popularity all over the country is high enough to rival even cricket. As far as India and viewership goes, Hockey India League (HIL) is close to the top. India loves this sport. While the sport itself doesn’t originate from India, it has deep roots that go way back to the 17th century. The professional league was established in 2013 and has been going strong ever since.
As you can see, India’s sports and betting market is quite different to the rest of the world. They love to watch and bet on the sports that either originate from the subcontinent or have become part of the culture through history. Cricket remains the king, while the only global discipline that has kept its place close to the top remains soccer.
