Though I love cricket more than other sports & cherish its popularity in India, I have often dwelled on the reason why it has left other sports far behind in terms of fan-following in the country. Actually, there is a trend not only limited to cricket in India, but far more general. In almost every region, there are one or two sports that comfortably belittle others. These are the “SpOrTs of FaMe” of their respective regions.If in America, NBA and rugby steal the show, in Europe, football is the rage. Infact, even cricket in India doesn’t come close to the fanaticism enjoyed by club football in Europe. Within these larger areas, there are smaller areas & villages where some other local sport (think kabaddi in India) rules the ‘Home Turf’, & these often have little presence on the international arena. And then there are many examples where a particular sport isn't much popular in its place of origin, but is favourite in a land far away.
So the question is basically what all affects the status & popularity of any sport?? There are many obvious answers. And then there are numerous complex factors too. The obvious chain of events in the build up to popularity starts with performance, which generates interest & craze, which lead to infusion of money & more infrastructure creation….. which will further enhance popularity, performance, interest & so on. So an ideal ‘popularity cycle’ feeds on itself. But Indian cricket is a distortion of this ideal cycle in a way that interest sustains (if not increases) independently of performance (team India can suddenly deliver a debacle). But cricket wasn’t born like that, hockey used to be our pride. Having started from ground zero like its peers, why has it outplayed them so ruthlessly in the not-so-long run of 25 years? Again, for obvious reasons, hockey’s flop-show & the unexpected cricket WC’83 win have played their part. But what outside factors have given cricket the required fillip? And to what extent have the other sports doomed themselves?
Talking of the complex issues, they are mostly demographic, i.e. dependant on the lifestyles, interests, basic health & habits of the population. Conditions like climate, soil, economic situation and functioning of the sports control authorities also have an impact. So, India can’t have ice hockey, because it simply cannot be played here.
Also, for a game, generating interest is far more important than getting financial aid and facilities. Our domestic cricket, despite having dead wickets, produces good international cricketers. I feel people like those games with which they can identify themselves, those they play themselves, or want to play. They dream about being heroes for their teams. Glamour & panache have become important today to feel associated with a sport. That is why urban youth don’t want to play kabaddi, coz it isn’t very elegant, though I think it could make a very competitive international sport. (A picture that comes to my mind is Tendulkar scoring by sliding under the legs of Hayden & Symonds.)
Then there is also the congenital physique & stamina, and dietary habits. Asian people usually aren’t as tall & big as others. So even if football was given proper support & funding in India, I doubt if we could really excel in that. (Though I believe if India could someday manage to be in the top 20, football would run cricket out in popularity.) For similar reasons (height), it would be tough for us to compete with NBA guys. But still, we can play basketball among ourselves, can't we??
Cultural inheritance is also a factor determining our liking for a particular sport. We the Indians respect our traditions & moral sensibilities, and aren’t as violent & aggressive by nature. Hence we might not encourage sports like WWE & rugby, atleast on a scale as large as that existing for them in the US. There will surely be political hue & cry about them, with puritans (read fundamentalist right wings) leading the charge on the grounds of ‘safeguarding our culture’.
Having written what I feel to be the reasons behind a sport's popularity, I would like to mention that cricket’s dominance in India worries me. Going by present scenario, other sports don’t seem to have much chance. Consider England, where football is more common, but still cricket matches witness very good crowds. This is because each sport has a dedicated fan-following. But in India, the followers of other sports are diverting towards cricket. The media loves it, giving much greater coverage to cricket than others, even for less significant matches. During the IPL, the viewer ship of other programmes & bollywood suffered. And about hockey & other sports, only some know. We are performing well in lawn tennis, chess and have some good players in golf also. But they are generally unable to hog headlines, & even if the do, they can’t sustain the popularity & are soon forgotten, even sooner than the romantic link-ups of the cricketers . True even in case of Olympic winners. Ask yourself, in which case will you be more happy: India beating Australia in cricket or in hockey. The ‘former’ I guess, though the latter would be far bigger an achievement going by present developments.
I don't know why I find cricket more interesting than basketball, football or badminton. Is it just my liking for cricket, or there is another reason?? Do most people in India like cricket more out of personal interest, or is the game inherently more interesting than other sports around us?? But then if the latter is true, why is it not that popular in other parts of the world?? Why don't we try baseball, which is the American equivalent of cricket?? Has cricket's influence incapacitated our minds to try anything else??
So the question is basically what all affects the status & popularity of any sport?? There are many obvious answers. And then there are numerous complex factors too. The obvious chain of events in the build up to popularity starts with performance, which generates interest & craze, which lead to infusion of money & more infrastructure creation….. which will further enhance popularity, performance, interest & so on. So an ideal ‘popularity cycle’ feeds on itself. But Indian cricket is a distortion of this ideal cycle in a way that interest sustains (if not increases) independently of performance (team India can suddenly deliver a debacle). But cricket wasn’t born like that, hockey used to be our pride. Having started from ground zero like its peers, why has it outplayed them so ruthlessly in the not-so-long run of 25 years? Again, for obvious reasons, hockey’s flop-show & the unexpected cricket WC’83 win have played their part. But what outside factors have given cricket the required fillip? And to what extent have the other sports doomed themselves?
Talking of the complex issues, they are mostly demographic, i.e. dependant on the lifestyles, interests, basic health & habits of the population. Conditions like climate, soil, economic situation and functioning of the sports control authorities also have an impact. So, India can’t have ice hockey, because it simply cannot be played here.
Also, for a game, generating interest is far more important than getting financial aid and facilities. Our domestic cricket, despite having dead wickets, produces good international cricketers. I feel people like those games with which they can identify themselves, those they play themselves, or want to play. They dream about being heroes for their teams. Glamour & panache have become important today to feel associated with a sport. That is why urban youth don’t want to play kabaddi, coz it isn’t very elegant, though I think it could make a very competitive international sport. (A picture that comes to my mind is Tendulkar scoring by sliding under the legs of Hayden & Symonds.)
Then there is also the congenital physique & stamina, and dietary habits. Asian people usually aren’t as tall & big as others. So even if football was given proper support & funding in India, I doubt if we could really excel in that. (Though I believe if India could someday manage to be in the top 20, football would run cricket out in popularity.) For similar reasons (height), it would be tough for us to compete with NBA guys. But still, we can play basketball among ourselves, can't we??
Cultural inheritance is also a factor determining our liking for a particular sport. We the Indians respect our traditions & moral sensibilities, and aren’t as violent & aggressive by nature. Hence we might not encourage sports like WWE & rugby, atleast on a scale as large as that existing for them in the US. There will surely be political hue & cry about them, with puritans (read fundamentalist right wings) leading the charge on the grounds of ‘safeguarding our culture’.
Having written what I feel to be the reasons behind a sport's popularity, I would like to mention that cricket’s dominance in India worries me. Going by present scenario, other sports don’t seem to have much chance. Consider England, where football is more common, but still cricket matches witness very good crowds. This is because each sport has a dedicated fan-following. But in India, the followers of other sports are diverting towards cricket. The media loves it, giving much greater coverage to cricket than others, even for less significant matches. During the IPL, the viewer ship of other programmes & bollywood suffered. And about hockey & other sports, only some know. We are performing well in lawn tennis, chess and have some good players in golf also. But they are generally unable to hog headlines, & even if the do, they can’t sustain the popularity & are soon forgotten, even sooner than the romantic link-ups of the cricketers . True even in case of Olympic winners. Ask yourself, in which case will you be more happy: India beating Australia in cricket or in hockey. The ‘former’ I guess, though the latter would be far bigger an achievement going by present developments.
I don't know why I find cricket more interesting than basketball, football or badminton. Is it just my liking for cricket, or there is another reason?? Do most people in India like cricket more out of personal interest, or is the game inherently more interesting than other sports around us?? But then if the latter is true, why is it not that popular in other parts of the world?? Why don't we try baseball, which is the American equivalent of cricket?? Has cricket's influence incapacitated our minds to try anything else??
Let us believe, if we want to, that cricket provides more interesting watching & playing. But "all its goodness, the inherent shortcomings of other sports, & the various basic & complex issues" not withstanding, our sports ministry must urgently give a ‘BOOSTER’ dose to the NEGLECTED others. This ‘STIMULUS PACKAGE’ for the ‘RECESSION’ facing sports needs to be much more than just economical. There has to be a complete overhaul of the functioning & composition of the ruling body (taking a leaf from BCCI’s book), infrastructure, promotion among youth & maybe some innovation also. And be rest assured, cricket will still be the leader, but only there would be more options for spectators & players to choose from, and greater chances for our country to excel in sports.
