Cricket is a sport played by two teams with 11 players on each team. The main aim of the players on one team is to score as many runs as possible against the opposing team. Cricket was invented in England and was established in India in the 18th century (India was a British colony).
Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world after football. However, the fan base for cricket is limited to a few motherlands, unlike football which is popular across the globe. For instance, Cricket is the most popular sport in India. Check the latest picks against the spread and wager as we explore cricket.
It is important to note that India is the second most populated country globally, with a population of 1.3+ Billion people. But this only does not explain why cricket is so popular in India. Let’s explore why this sport is very popular and famous in India.
Cricket Is Easy to Play
Playing cricket is very simple. Even though a professional cricket match is between two teams of 11 players each, cricket can be played by even two people. All they need is a bat and a ball.
The two do not require a lot of space to play. This is the reason cricket can often be observed to be played even in the crowded streets of India by children, and they use anything that acts like a bat.
World’s Best Cricketers Come from India
Across the world, fanaticism is very vital for the growth of a sport. A country that boasts of very well-established and famous names in the world of cricket will positively impact the popularity of the sport.
Names like Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, and Sunil Gavaskar, just to list a few, are well known globally. These are well-renowned cricketers from India. They are idolized by fellow countrymen and women who aspire to be like them.
Professional cricketers also live a very luxurious life, and this motivates the young players who dream of having a similar lifestyle in the future.
Great Cricket Infrastructure
Cricket is an easy game to play. However, there is so much to learn about the game if one aspires to become a professional player. This requires extensive training and coaching, which demands good resources.
One of the requirements is the training space, which translates to a stadium. For a highly populated country like India, it is very commendable that every town has at least one cricket stadium.
Within these stadiums, players (both beginners and professionals) find great playing and coaching/training facilities. These facilities make the sport have the ease to access and thus making it popular.
Great Business for Sponsors
Sponsors for this cricket sport are business people. And one thing that is common among all business people is they love numbers. These sponsors associate their adverts with Cricket, as cricket enjoys wide coverage in terms of media, be it digital, print media, or television.
This is observed especially when there is an upcoming cricket match. Cricket matches observe a massive turnout of fans in the stadium. For this reason, sponsors also associate with cricket clubs.
Professional and well-established cricketers benefit from a huge financial fortune from sponsors by endorsing their products.
Online betting Opportunity
There is a steady growth in the number of betting sites in India. Betting sites need people to use their platforms to enable them to stay afloat. Therefore, they do extensive marketing and advertisement of upcoming cricket games for the public to place their bets.
India is a middle-income economy. This means that the citizens don’t mind a way of earning an extra income. With the growth of betting sites, this has turned into an opportunity for the people.
For one to place a bet, they have to do comprehensive research and analysis on the teams. This is one reason that makes cricket a very popular sport in India.
Social Media
More than 750 million people in India have access to or use smartphones. There is a wide range of social media platforms easily accessible by a smartphone; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, among others.
The well-established professional cricketers from India are on these platforms and enjoy a massive following from the local fans. This makes it easy for the fans to have easy access to the current affairs in cricket, and it helps make the sport popular.
Conclusion
Cricket is undoubtedly the most popular and famous sport in India. As a matter of fact, of all sports viewers in India, more than 90 percent are for Cricket. Many Indians plan their schedule for the weekend while observing the Indian cricket team’s schedule so as not to miss any action for the team.
