cricket

With the Indian Premier League having started, this should be the right time to pen down few thoughts about this sport. Rather than a sport, cricket is considered widely as a belief or category with people fiercely involved into the minute intricacies of this game. It is definitely undeniable that cricket has become the face of Indian sports. No other sport has emerged as successful as cricket, the underlying reasons being many. There are times when people simply shut themselves away from everything else to sit and enjoy a match with their near and dear ones. Cricket obsession has gone so far so as to accept this sport as a medium to express patriotism and respect for the country. In spite of eminent players like Vishwanathan Anand, Sania Mirza who have struggled a lot to earn the fame of an Indian sports star, the recognition a cricket player experiences is unsurpassed and it is incomparable.

The public mindset:

Sport is a sport be it hockey, cricket or tennis. Why is this partiality towards cricket alone?

Did you know that the BCCI is the richest cricket board across the globe? With funds pouring in from all corners, BCCI is able to provide a luxurious standard of living for the players when compared to others sports.

There are majorly two aspects which can be considered as key pointers for this uncontrollable and unmanageable popularity of Indian cricketers. They being

Media and advertisement:

Media plays a very crucial role in every developing country and India is no exception to this. It holds the responsibility to inform the people about the happenings in the country. In such a scenario, cricket has been seriously projected not as a game but as a strategy to gain popularity and earn money. There are sponsors who are ready to shed funds for these players and advertise their products. When the public views such ads with their favorite player, it automatically boosts sales and wins the hearts of the people. While Dhoni is for Reebok, Boost is for Sachin. Children and adults begin to feel like these players when they use the products. This strategy is used by almost all brands as a way to reach out across and connect to their target audience.

Involvement of the people:

It is taken personally rather than just a win or loss. Parents try to bring up their children as cricket players, have them go for professional coaching; inspire them by closely following matches. Cricket craze is so evident amongst people that they keep constant track of the scores, run rate and other details. The urge to win a particular crucial match is so dynamic and aggressive that cricket fans are always ready to forgo anything to watch and enjoy the match.

Though such a unwavering wave of cricket craze can take tolls at times, it is a great feeling to sit back and keep commenting on the progress of the match with every single ball. It gives us a strong nationalistic sensitivity and has proved to be common platform of interest for numerous Indians to share their thoughts.