Proud to be a.............!!!

[israr]

Yes, cricket's the second most popular sport in the world, and I am proud to be a Bangladeshi that atleast they're are one of the elite nations which play this popular sport that is only second to football.
I've pasted this information from Wikipedia.The ones in dark yellow are the countries where cricket is the national sport, and the ones in green are for football.

National sport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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<!-- start content -->http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8e/Popularsports.PNG/400px-Popularsports.PNG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Popularsports.PNG) http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Popularsports.PNG)
Map of the World showing the most popular sports by nation.


A national sport is a sport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport) or game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game) that is considered to be a culturally intrinsic part of a country (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country) or nation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation). In American English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English) the term national pastime is often used.
Although there are normally no official parameters towards defining what is a national sport, there are some general characteristics that most national sports share:

The rules and objectives of the sport or game are known in fairly great detail in the country or nation.
The game or sport is widely played or watched in the country or nation.
The game or sport has a long history of popularity or extreme current popularity in the country or nation.

National sport for each country

Biggest sport for each plus one million populated country:
Football
Indonesia: 231 Brazil: 176 Russia: 144 Nigeria: 129 Mexico: 103 Germany: 83 Vietnam: 81 Egypt: 70 Ethiopia: 67 Turkey: 67 Iran: 66 Thailand: 62 France: 59 Italy: 57 Congo-Kinshasa: 55 England: 49 Ukraine: 48 South Korea: 48 South Africa: 43 Myanmar: 42 Colombia: 41 Spain: 40 Poland: 38 Argentina: 37 Tanzania: 37 Sudan: 37 Algeria: 32 Morocco: 31 Kenya: 31 Peru: 27 Afghanistan: 27 Nepal: 25 Uzbekistan: 25 Uganda: 24 Iraq: 24 Saudi Arabia: 23 Malaysia: 22 Romania: 22 North Korea: 22 Ghana: 20 Mozambique: 19 Yemen: 18 Syria: 17 Ivory Coast: 16 Kazakhstan: 16 Madagascar: 16 Cameroon: 16 Netherlands: 16 Chile: 15 Ecuador: 13 Guatemala: 13 Burkina Faso: 12 Zimbabwe: 11 Mali: 11 Malawi: 10 Serbia: 10 Greece: 10 Niger: 10 Angola: 10 Senegal: 10 Belarus: 10 Belgium: 10 Czech Republic: 10 Portugal: 10 Hungary: 10 Zambia: 9 Tunisia: 9 Chad: 8 Sweden: 8 Bolivia: 8 Austria: 8 Azerbaijan: 7 Guinea: 7 Somalia: 7 Bulgaria: 7 Rwanda: 7 Switzerland: 7 Haiti: 7 Benin: 6 Tajikistan: 6 Honduras: 6 Burundi: 6 El Salvador: 6 Israel: 6 Paraguay: 5 Sierra Leone: 5 Slovakia: 5 Denmark: 5 Libya: 5 Scotland: 5 Jordan: 5 Togo: 5 Georgia: 4 Kyrgyzstan: 4 Turkmenistan: 4 Norway: 4 Eritrea: 4 Singapore: 4 Moldova: 4 Croatia: 4 Bosnia-Herzegovina: 3 Costa Rica: 3 Lebanon: 3 Central Africa: 3 Albania: 3 Palestine: 3 Uruguay: 3 Armenia: 3 Liberia: 3 Congo-Brazzaville: 2 Mauritania: 2 Oman: 2 Emirates: 2 Lesotho: 2 Kuwait: 2 Macedonia: 2 Slovenia: 1 Namibia: 1 Botswana: 1 Gambia: 1 Guinea-Bissau: 1 Gabon: 1 Mauritius: 1 Trinidad and Tobago: 1 Swaziland: 1
Total: 2841 million
Cricket
India: 1045 Pakistan: 147 Bangladesh: 133 Sri Lanka: 19 Australia: 19 Jamaica: 2
Total: 1365 million
Table Tennis
China: 1284
Total: 1284 million
Baseball
United States: 280 Japan: 126 Venezuela: 24 Taiwan: 22 Cuba: 11 Dominican Republic: 8 Nicaragua: 5 Puerto Rico: 3 Panama: 2
Total: 481 million
Basketball
Philippines: 84 Lithuania: 3 Latvia: 2
Total: 89 million
Ice Hockey
Canada: 31 Finland: 5
Total: 36 million
Kickboxing
Cambodia: 12 Laos: 5
Total: 17 million
Rugby
Papua New Guinea: 5 New Zealand: 3 Wales: 3
Total: 11 million
Horse Racing
Hong Kong: 7
Total: 7 million
Gaelic Football
Ireland: 4 Northern Ireland: 1
Total: 4 million
Wrestling
Mongolia: 2
Total: 2 million
Archery
Bhutan: 2
Total: 2 million
Skiing
Estonia: 1
Total: 1 million

[Tigers_eye]

What happened to Kabadi? Someone needs to send the correct information to Wikipedia.

[Nasif]

What happened to Kabadi? Someone needs to send the correct information to Wikipedia.

Thats just in paper. [বাংলা]শুধু কাগজে কলমেই কাবাডি, আসলে জাতীয় খেলা এখন ক্রিকেটই। আর এমনিতেই, কাবাডিতে আমাদের দল তেমন ভল নয়, তাই কাবাডির গুনগান গেয়ে লাভ নাই :confused:[/বাংলা]

[israr]

What happened to Kabadi? Someone needs to send the correct information to Wikipedia.

What about Gilli Danda?

[LateCut]

Why Mongolia is in dark yellow?

[Xavier]

I know that article from Wikipedia and i'm glad about that, but I have some doubts... cricket is a very popular sport in some countries, but totally unknown in many others. I'm sure 99% of people in my good-old-europe don't even know what cricket is (you really can't guess the answers I get when I tell to people that I am a cricket fan!), on the other hand sports like basketball or tennis or cycling can be the 1st sport in few countries but are quite popular in many others.
So cricket still is a weird sport on a social level: a favourite pastime for many people/countries but a totally unknown one in many others!
Unlucky the ones who don't know what a great game it is!:)

[Niceman70]

Or Maybe because it is considered time consuming and slow. Most people like less time consuming sports.



quote=Xavier]I know that article from Wikipedia and i'm glad about that, but I have some doubts... cricket is a very popular sport in some countries, but totally unknown in many others. I'm sure 99% of people in my good-old-europe don't even know what cricket is (you really can't guess the answers I get when I tell to people that I am a cricket fan!), on the other hand sports like basketball or tennis or cycling can be the 1st sport in few countries but are quite popular in many others.
So cricket still is a weird sport on a social level: a favourite pastime for many people/countries but a totally unknown one in many others!
Unlucky the ones who don't know what a great game it is!:)[/quote]

[cricket_pagol]

Is cricket the most popular sport in Australia? I think soccer or rugby is #1 in Australia.

[Tokyobreeze]

Thats just in paper. [বাংলা]শুধু কাগজে কলমেই কাবাডি, আসলে জাতীয় খেলা এখন ক্রিকেটই। আর এমনিতেই, কাবাডিতে আমাদের দল তেমন ভল নয়, তাই কাবাডির গুনগান গেয়ে লাভ নাই :confused:[/বাংলা]

Tarporeo kagoj kolom e Kabadi ekhono to amader National Games!...Though nobody really cares about it.:lol:

[Hasib]

Is cricket the most popular sport in Australia? I think soccer or rugby is #1 in Australia.

rugby (or football) has quite recently crossed cricket as the most populer sprt in the country... soccer was not populer at all until this year's world cup.

[Rabz]

yes, rugby is the Numero Uno of Australian sports. but i guess, if u take the historical and cultural value of it, Cricket is still probably the game Australians loves to watch...

and just the sheer size of population could be the biggest misleading information possible. i mean with the massive 1.5 Billion in the subcontinent alone, no wonder cricket ranks so high in terms of following. the global appeal of this beautiful game is still to be realised.

but then again after football, no other team sports has such appeal. Rugy is played by few, so is baseball basketball. only difference with the latter two is USA plays them, and they r very good at marketing it around the world, just by virtue of thier economic muscle.

Hopefully one day, cricket would really be the second most popular game in the world.

[Xavier]

but then again after football, no other team sports has such appeal. Rugy is played by few, so is baseball basketball. only difference with the latter two is USA plays them, and they r very good at marketing it around the world, just by virtue of thier economic muscle.



True about baseball (almost ignored in most of the world), not for basketball which is very popular in all of Europe and America Latina (though football is by far the first sport ).

[israr]

Man, look at the coming Ashes series in Australia, tickets been sold away like a lightning, and the officials are even predicting a record crowd at MCG, so I see no reason why cricket can't be the no.1 sport in Australia.

[Hatebreed]

mm let me guess who invented rugby :drool:.. it's so weird the country that invented some of the most popular sports hardly wins anything at international level

anyway what's the difference between rugby and american football?

[kalpurush]

Cricket is the #1 exciting and fascinating among all games thats for sure.

[Fazal]

anyway what's the difference between rugby and american football?

The only three difference that I can see:

- In rugby you fight without wearing your protective gears, where as in american football, you fight wearing your protective gears.

- In rugby you fight abd then you play once in a while, where as in american football, you fight and then you take time-out

- In rugby regular john with lots of guts can play, where as in amrican footbal only Big John with lots of fats can play.

[Hatebreed]

^^ couldn't have said it better. ^^

[ialbd]

why does it say national sport of each country, cricket is not the national sport of BD, neither ice hockey is of Canada..

I think they meant the most popular sport, naki?
________
ACURA CSX SPECIFICATIONS (http://www.honda-wiki.org/wiki/Acura_CSX)

[israr]

why does it say national sport of each country, cricket is not the national sport of BD, neither ice hockey is of Canada..

I think they meant the most popular sport, naki?

I think you forgot to read this..........

A national sport is a sport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport) or game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game) that is considered to be a culturally intrinsic part of a country (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country) or nation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation). In American English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English) the term national pastime is often used.
Although there are normally no official parameters towards defining what is a national sport, there are some general characteristics that most national sports share:

The rules and objectives of the sport or game are known in fairly great detail in the country or nation.
The game or sport is widely played or watched in the country or nation.
The game or sport has a long history of popularity or extreme current popularity in the country or nation.

[israr]

Why Mongolia is in dark yellow?

The one for Mongolia is light yellow,i.e. wrestling.

[Tigers_eye]

...
I think they meant the most popular sport, naki?

I think also.
I question Kenya, Indonesia's affiliation. Kenya clearly Athletics, and Indonesia would be badminton. I fail to understand Japan's inclusion under Baseball, and China's under ping pong? They play baseball and table tennis respectively but soccer is their most popular sports. I guess US admin of Wikepia don't want foolball (the real football) to be that much overwheling majority.

If they can have "Gaelic Football - Ireland: 4 Northern Ireland: 1"
then I want Bangladesh to be under Kabadi banner.

[israr]

I think also.
I question Kenya, Indonesia's affiliation. Kenya clearly Athletics, and Indonesia would be badminton. I fail to understand Japan's inclusion under Baseball, and China's under ping pong? They play baseball and table tennis respectively but soccer is their most popular sports. I guess US admin of Wikepia don't want foolball (the real football) to be that much overwheling majority. I still want Bangladesh to be under Kabadi banner.

Cats_eye bhai, why are you stuck with Kabadi, move on, it's all cricket now in Bangladesh.

And whatever the world says, I consider a 5 day enthralling test match much much better than a football match which lasts till the penalty shootout.

[Tigers_eye]

Israr bhai,
I am not sure if you have ever played the game Kabadi. It tests your stamina, strength, wits, team work and unique to our region. I suggest all the city boys need to play this game at least once in a rainy day. They will be hooked just as people get hooked at golf in one day of outing. Especially if there are some female players in both teams.

At least we can perform better than Water Polo or cricket at an international stage. A silver or a bronze is better than being forth in asia cup among four teams. :)

[ialbd]

I think you forgot to read this..........

A national sport is a sport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport) or game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game) that is considered to be a culturally intrinsic part of a country (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country) or nation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation). In American English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English) the term national pastime is often used.
Although there are normally no official parameters towards defining what is a national sport, there are some general characteristics that most national sports share:

The rules and objectives of the sport or game are known in fairly great detail in the country or nation.
The game or sport is widely played or watched in the country or nation.
The game or sport has a long history of popularity or extreme current popularity in the country or nation.

my bad, really missed this part. But I agree with Cats_eye, some country does have more than one (or debatable) 'national' sports. But cricket is undoubtedly the 2nd most fav sport in the world.
________
MICHIGAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES (http://michigan.dispensaries.org/)

[israr]

Israr bhai,
I am not sure if you have ever played the game Kabadi. It tests your stamina, strength, wits, team work and unique to our region. I suggest all the city boys need to play this game at least once in a rainy day. They will be hooked just as people get hooked at golf in one day of outing. Especially if there are some female players in both teams.

At least we can perform better than Water Polo or cricket at an international stage. A silver or a bronze is better than being forth in asia cup among four teams. :)

You're right my friend, but I doubt if there is any kind of a Kabadi world cup through which we can be popular, or even if we're the champions in Kabadi, who shall or which country will recognize our achievement:confused: :confused: :confused: