Gilli – Danda

Gilli-danda) or gulli-danda or Guli Danda is an amateur sport, similar to cricket, that is popular among youth in the Indian subcontinent. It is called dānggűli in Bungle, chinni-dandu in Kannada,'kuttiyum kolum' in Malayalam, viti-dandu in Marathi, kitti-pullu in Tamil, and gooti-billa in Telugu. This sport is generally played in the rural and small towns of Indian subcontinent. It is widely played in Punjab (India) and rural areas of the North-West Frontier Province (Pakistan).

There are no records of the games origin in south Asian sub continent or its existence before the arrival of Europeans. However a similar game by name of Lippa has history of being played in Italy and Southern Europe. It is possible that this game was brought from Europe during the time of Alexander or British.

Gilli-danda have no official requirements for equipment. The game is played with a gilli or guli and danda, which are both wooden sticks. The danda is longer (suitably handmade by the player) which one can swing easily. The gilli is smaller and is tapered on both sides so that the ends become conical shaped. The gilli is analogous to a cricket bail and the danda is analogous to cricket bat.

In some versions, the points a striker scores is dependent on the distance the gilli falls from the striking point. The distance is measured in terms of the length of the danda, or in some cases the length of the gilli. Scoring also depends on how many times the gilli was hit in the air in one strike. Say when it traveled a distance 'd' with two mid-air strikes, the total point is doubled.