Sports Icons of India

The present book Sports Icons of India provides detailed information regarding the career and life of legendary sports personalities of our country. This history of sports in India daters back to the Vedic era. In the area of recreation and sports India had evolved a number of games. One would be surprised to know today that games like, chess, snakes and ladders, playing cards, polo, the martial arts of Judo and Karate had originated as a sport in India and its was from here that these games were transmitted to foreign countries, where they were further modernized. It is more than likely that many of today’s Olympic disciplines are sophisticated versions of the games of strength and speed that flourished in ancient India and Greece. Hockey, in which India has an impressive record with eight Olympic gold medals, is officially the national sport. Other popular games are football, cricket, basketball, volleyball and badminton. After the IX Asian Games in New Delhi in 1982, the capital city now has modern sports facilities. Such facilities are also being developed in other parts of the country.