Know More About Traditional Indian Games Which You Can Play Right Where You Live

The Games India Plays by Amitabh Satyam and Sangeeta Goswami is a book on traditional Indian games that are entertaining, intellectually stimulating and educational which can be played almost anywhere with minimal equipment. An excerpt on Landgi  the team sport:

Langdi is one of the first team sports that a child in India plays in school. A chaser hops on one leg while the other leg is kept folded in the air and chases other players who keep moving to avoid getting caught. The term langdi means to limp or to hop on one foot. This foundational field sport is useful in training for games like kho-kho, volleyball, football and gymnastics.

The play

The game is played by two teams, chasers and defenders. The chasers send one player at a time to the field to catch as many runners as possible while hopping on one foot. The defenders send three players at first. After all the three players are tagged out, the next batch of three
runners enters the game. The team that tags the most opponents in the given time period wins the match.

Number of players

Any number of players divided into two equal teams can play informally. We recommend a minimum of six players each and that captainship be assigned to one player from each team. For informal play, the captains of both the teams keep score records and perform the role of referees.

For official matches, there are two teams with fifteen players per team, twelve active players and three extra players. There are also two umpires, one referee, one timekeeper and two scorekeepers.

Equipment needed

Chalks or lime powder to mark boundaries, a stopwatch to check time duration and a whistle to announce turn or innings change and to declare fouls are needed.

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The playground

The ground is 15 m x 15 m, and the langdi court is a square with sides of length 10 m each, marked as square ABCD. The chaser’s entry zone is outside the field on the left, marked WXYZ, and the runner’s entry zone is on the opposite side near the corner, marked MNOP. The line dividing the court into two equal rectangular halves is the central line: EF. The rectangle near the chaser’s entry zone is Field 1: ADFE. The other halfcourt near the defenders’ entry zone is Field 2: EBCF.

The players wear T-shirts/banyans and half pants. They usually play without shoes or are allowed to wear flat-bottomed canvas shoes. On a wooden ground indoors, players should wear lightweight sports shoes. For official matches, T-shirts are numbered in the front and back.

Play duration

Each match has two innings. Each innings involves chasing and defending turns, lasting for 9 minutes. There is an interval of 5 minutes after an inning and a 2-minute break between turns.

Playing method

The team that wins the toss plays as defenders and the opposing team will be chasers,

1. At the start, the defenders send three players into the field. These defenders enter the field from the entry zone. Only after these three defenders are out, the next set of three defenders can enter.

2. The chasing team sends a chaser who hops on one foot and tries to tag the three defenders present on the field. The captain of the chasing team decides the sequence of the players performing langdi before the round starts. A new chaser enters the field one by one to chase after the existing chaser is out.

3. Defenders are declared out if the chaser touches them with the palm. Any defender who steps out of the ground is also out.

4. When all the chasers are out, then the turn for the chasers is over. The score is calculated based on the number of defenders tagged out.

5. The end of the allotted time also ends the turn.

6. The team that catches most defenders n gets a higher score and is declared the winner.

7. Generally, only one match at a time is played as this play is strenuous for legs.

Rules
1. Except for the chaser on the move, no other chaser shall enter the field. The next chaser will enter the
field only after the previous chaser has left.

2. Defenders must not disturb or obstruct the chasers, or else they will be declared out.

3. When a chaser touches a defender with his or her palm, the defender will be declared out.

4. Other than the touch with the palm, no touch is valid for declaring the defender out.

5. After the first batch of three defenders is ruled out, the new batch of three defenders enter the field immediately from the entry zone. These three players must enter together.

6. If all the defenders are tagged out before the chaser’s turn is over, the defenders play again and maintain the same order of entering the field. The order of the defenders entering the court will not be changed during a turn.

7. After the completion of the first innings, if the points of the chasers exceed the points of their opponents by nine or more, then the chasers will have the option of again taking their turn as chasers.

8. If a match is not completed for any reason, it will be continued at another time with the same players and the same captain. It resumes from the unfinished turn, and the teams start off with the scores from the earlier play.

Excerpted with permission from The Games India Plays by Amitabh Satyam and Sangeeta Goswami published by Bloomsbury India.

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