|
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.
|
