Talking about sports in India the most popular sport is cricket, other sports don't even come anywhere near cricket when it comes to popularity. The reason for such popularity is hard to determine. Since cricket is not a cheap game every cricket gear is expensive whether it be the bat, the ball, the pads, thigh pads, abdomen guard, elbow guard, gloves, helmet or chest guard.
The game is so popular that one can easily find kids and youngsters playing cricket in the streets of India. However most of them are never going to play cricket with exact cricket gears. Most of them would be playing cricket with a rubber or a tennis ball and a wooden bat. The ball that is actually used for cricket matches is very hard and normal bat that people use can't be used to play with that, since the bat would crack or break into two pieces.
The popularity of cricket increased after the 1983 cricket world cup when India beat West Indies in the finals to win the world cup but even before that the game was popular. The Eden Gardens in Kolkata and Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums were always packed when India was playing. Before television the public would be glued to the radio sets to hear live running commentary of the cricket matches that featured India.
It must also be noted that the BCCI has done wonderfully well in marketing the game to the Indian public as compared to other sports bodies in the country. BCCI is one of the richest sports bodies in the world. The Reliance Cricket World Cup of 1987, 1996 Wills World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup which were co-hosted in India were very successful. Specially the last two the were financially successful as well while 1987 World Cup was just about able to make some profits. As compared to soccer world cup the cricket world cups did not involve a single penny from the governments of the host country.
If you look in TV the crowd profile of Indian public is different from the audience profile overseas. The spectators in India are far more passionate, far more enthusiastic as compared to spectators in Australia, South Africa and England. They make far more noise than overseas spectators.
The popularity of cricket has come down in West Indies, England and Australia, whereas the popularity of cricket is constantly increasing in India, Pakistan, Bangaldesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan so cricket's future lies in South Asia and perhaps certain countries of Africa.
India has played a big role in preserving and evolving this game without India cricket won't have been the same probably it would have almost gone out of existence.
Cricket's birth might have happened in England but its now essentially a game dominated by India and South Asia.
The game is so popular that one can easily find kids and youngsters playing cricket in the streets of India. However most of them are never going to play cricket with exact cricket gears. Most of them would be playing cricket with a rubber or a tennis ball and a wooden bat. The ball that is actually used for cricket matches is very hard and normal bat that people use can't be used to play with that, since the bat would crack or break into two pieces.
The popularity of cricket increased after the 1983 cricket world cup when India beat West Indies in the finals to win the world cup but even before that the game was popular. The Eden Gardens in Kolkata and Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums were always packed when India was playing. Before television the public would be glued to the radio sets to hear live running commentary of the cricket matches that featured India.
It must also be noted that the BCCI has done wonderfully well in marketing the game to the Indian public as compared to other sports bodies in the country. BCCI is one of the richest sports bodies in the world. The Reliance Cricket World Cup of 1987, 1996 Wills World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup which were co-hosted in India were very successful. Specially the last two the were financially successful as well while 1987 World Cup was just about able to make some profits. As compared to soccer world cup the cricket world cups did not involve a single penny from the governments of the host country.
If you look in TV the crowd profile of Indian public is different from the audience profile overseas. The spectators in India are far more passionate, far more enthusiastic as compared to spectators in Australia, South Africa and England. They make far more noise than overseas spectators.
The popularity of cricket has come down in West Indies, England and Australia, whereas the popularity of cricket is constantly increasing in India, Pakistan, Bangaldesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Afghanistan so cricket's future lies in South Asia and perhaps certain countries of Africa.
India has played a big role in preserving and evolving this game without India cricket won't have been the same probably it would have almost gone out of existence.
Cricket's birth might have happened in England but its now essentially a game dominated by India and South Asia.
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