Another Religion

There are many religions in this secular country of India, but cricket is perhaps a religion that unites Indians where the others divide us. Even though Hockey is the national game of our country, cricket by a huge margin enjoys the supremacy in terms of fan following and intense love. With having millions and millions of ardent followers, cricket is a ‘religion’ of India.

The ‘Men in Blue’ are not only adored but revered by the crazy cricket fans and their fame outshines the popularity of all the celebrities in our country.

Everyone, from a school going kid to retired old man is a fan of this game. The appeal of cricket has enchanted every Indian. When the men in blue bat, run or scream in our screens, their heart beats mimic the heart beats of most population in the country. People plan their activities ahead of time, their leaves and travel plans after checking the match schedules.

Cricket is also ironically one of the fastest ways to befriend an Indian. No matter what part of India we live in, one can find a herd of kids playing gully cricket with lot of enthusiasm and a lot of screamings.

It is often claimed that cricket in England, the country where the game originated is dying now. Even in West Indies, cricket it seems have lost its sheen. But Indians, who adopted the game from the British, continue to love and adore the game and still fanatic fans. In fact, after the inception of the very popular Indian Premier League or IPL, the cricket fever of India has reached entirely new horizons of glory and fame.

Because of the enormous popularity Cricket has in India, it attracts a lot of sponsors too. Additionally, the number of matches played by India is a lot higher than the other cricket playing countries with all the matches being followed as if it’s a ritual.

It is highly unlikely that one would witness any vacant seats in a stadium where a match is being played. Not only are the India’s International matches a fixture, domestic tournaments like the Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and Duleep Trophy are have a massive following in the country. And all these factors thus contribute in making BCCI the richest cricket board in the world. Most of the ICC revenues are collected and generated from our cricket crazy nation.