Sports & Recreation In Hyderabad

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 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. But tennis, which was followed only by a class and not mass, has become everyone's favorite game in the southern region of India. And the whole credit for the growth of popularity of tennis will only go to Sania Mirza who has won the hearts of million with her achievements at such a young age.