Know about Buzkashi, a game played with headless goat carcass

New Delhi: There are hundreds of sports across the world, some requiring only two participants, to some other games in which hundreds of real-time participants, either in teams or competing as individuals take part.Some of the sports are well-known with huge fan following but some games come under weird sports category and played only in the native regions. One such sport is Buzkashi, which is one of the weirdest sports played in Afghanistan. In fact, Buzkashi is the national sport and a "passion" in Afghanistan where it is often played on Fridays and the matches draw thousands of fans. Buzkashi or Kokpar is the Central Asian sport played among Kazakhs, Afghans, Uzbeks, Hazaras, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Turkmens and Pashtuns.The Turkic name of the game is Kokboru, refers to grey wolf- the holy symbol of the Turkic people. Buzkashi is often put side by side to polo as both the games are played between people riding on horse-back, both involve pushing an object towards a goal, and both get fairly jagged.But, polo is played with a ball, and buzkashi is played with a headless goat carcass known as ‘Kokpar'. Polo matches are played for fixed periods totaling about an hour, but Buzkashi may continue for days. There are some set rules of the game, which are as follows:1. There are two teams with 10 participants in each2. Only 4 players a team are allowed to play on a field at a given time 3. Teams are allowed to substitute players or their horses4. Game is played on a field of 200 meters long and 80 meters wide 5. Two kazans - big goals with a diameter of 3.6 meters and 1.5 meter high are placed on opposite sides of a field6. A goal is scored each time a kokpar (goat carcass) is placed in an opponent's kazan.7. A kokpar is brought to the field center after scoring a goal Nowadays, Buzkashi, in its more regulated tournament version also has a limited match time. In western China, there is not only horse-back Buzkashi, but also yak Buzkashi among Tajiks of Xinjiang.