Editing West Bengal (section)

== Sports ==
{{Main|Sports in West Bengal}}
[[File:Salt Lake Stadium - Yuva Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata - Calcutta 5.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata|[[Salt Lake Stadium]] (Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan), Kolkata]]
[[Cricket]] and [[association football]] are popular. West Bengal, unlike most other states of India, is noted for its passion and patronage of football.<ref name="dineo foot" /><ref name="bose foot" /><ref name="das foot" /> Kolkata is one of the major centres for football in India<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.longlivesoccer.com/indiafootball.htm |title=Football in India – A Fact File |access-date = 26 October 2006 |last=Prabhakaran |first=Shaji |date=18 January 2003 |publisher=LongLiveSoccer.com |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061023135720/http://www.longlivesoccer.com/indiafootball.htm |archive-date = 23 October 2006}}</ref> and houses top national clubs such as [[Mohun Bagan Super Giant]], [[East Bengal Club]] and [[Mohammedan Sporting Club (Kolkata)|Mohammedan Sporting Club]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/football/kolkata-football-infrastructure-is-from-the-past-century-4928776/ |title=Kolkata-football infrastructure is from-the past century |access-date = 28 January 2006 |newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]  |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171108211418/http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/football/kolkata-football-infrastructure-is-from-the-past-century-4928776/ |archive-date = 8 November 2017 |url-status = live}}</ref>
[[File:Netaji Indoor Stadium - Kolkata 2014-08-25 7446-7450 Compress.jpg|thumb|right|[[Netaji Indoor Stadium]], Kolkata]]
West Bengal has several large stadiums. [[Eden Gardens]] was one of only two 100,000-seat cricket stadiums in the world;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cricketweb.net/country/venue.php?CategoryIDAuto=12&VenueIDAuto=26 |title=India – Eden Gardens (Kolkata) |access-date = 26 October 2006 |publisher=Cricket Web |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070531223033/http://www.cricketweb.net/country/venue.php?CategoryIDAuto=12&VenueIDAuto=26 |archive-date = 31 May 2007}}</ref> renovations before the [[2011 Cricket World Cup]] reduced the capacity to 66,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/ground/57980.html |title=Eden Gardens |publisher=[[ESPNcricinfo|ESPN Cricinfo]] |access-date = 4 August 2017 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170708034244/http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/ground/57980.html |archive-date = 8 July 2017}}</ref> The stadium is the home to various cricket teams such as the [[Kolkata Knight Riders]], the [[Bengal cricket team]] and the [[East Zone cricket team|East Zone]]. The [[1987 Cricket World Cup]] final was hosted in Eden Gardens. The [[Calcutta Cricket and Football Club]] is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mukherji |last=Raju |title=Seven Years? Head Start |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050314/asp/opinion/story_4428341.asp |newspaper=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]] |date=14 March 2005 |access-date = 26 October 2006 |location=Calcutta, India |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014559/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050314/asp/opinion/story_4428341.asp |archive-date = 30 September 2007}}</ref>

[[Salt Lake Stadium|Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan]] (VYBK), is a multipurpose stadium in Kolkata, with a current capacity of 85,000. It is the largest stadium in India by seating capacity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), Kolkata |url=https://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/destination/stadiums/stadium=5008920/index.html |website=FIFA.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328105323/http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/destination/stadiums/stadium=5008920/index.html|archive-date=28 March 2017}}</ref> Before its renovation in 2011, it was the second-largest football stadium in the world, having a seating capacity of 120,000. It has hosted many national and international sporting events like the [[South Asian Federation Games|SAF Games]] of 1987 and the 2011 FIFA friendly football match between [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]] and [[Venezuela national football team|Venezuela]] featuring [[Lionel Messi]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Lionel Messi arrives in Kolkata for the friendly match against Venezuela |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/football/story/lionel-messi-in-kolkata-for-venezuela-match-140078-2011-08-31 |magazine=[[India Today]] |date=31 August 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122072043/https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/football/story/lionel-messi-in-kolkata-for-venezuela-match-140078-2011-08-31|archive-date=22 January 2018}}</ref> In 2008 legendary German goalkeeper, [[Oliver Kahn]] played his farewell match on this ground.<ref>{{cite news |title=King Kahn Bows Out in Kolkata |url=http://www.dw.com/en/king-kahn-bows-out-in-kolkata/a-3364291 |publisher=DW.com |date=27 May 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107120535/http://www.dw.com/en/king-kahn-bows-out-in-kolkata/a-3364291|archive-date=7 January 2018}}</ref> The stadium hosted the final match of the [[2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup]].

Notable sports persons from West Bengal include former [[Indian national cricket captains|Indian national cricket team captain]] [[Sourav Ganguly]], [[Pankaj Roy]], Olympic tennis [[bronze medal]]list [[Leander Paes]] and chess [[International Grandmaster|grand master]] [[Dibyendu Barua]].<ref name="dineo foot">{{cite book |title=Soccer in South Asia: empire, nation, diaspora |year=2001 |publisher=[[Frank Cass Publishers]] |location=London |isbn=978-0-7146-8170-2 |page=71 |last1=Dineo |first1=Paul |last2=Mills |first2=James}}</ref><ref name="bose foot">{{cite book |title=The magic of Indian cricket: cricket and society in India |year=2006 |publisher=[[Psychology Press]] |isbn=978-0-415-35691-6 |page=240 |last=Bose |first=Mihir}}</ref><ref name="das foot">{{cite journal |last=Das Sharma |first=Amitabha |year=2002 |title=Football and the big fight in Kolkata |journal=Football Studies |volume=5 |issue=2 |page=57 |url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/FootballStudies/2002/FS0502g.pdf |access-date = 5 April 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140211143839/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/FootballStudies/2002/FS0502g.pdf |archive-date = 11 February 2014 |url-status = live}}</ref>
{{wide image|Eden Gardens Kolkata.jpg|680px|Panoramic view of the [[Eden Gardens]] Stadium during [[IPL 2008]]}}