Are you Cricket-Crazy?
What is it about cricket that is able to capture the attention of a billion people?
I am also one among the billion fools who watched cricket, a game played in just 10 countries. In India, people are foolish enough to call cricket a religion and it took me some 20 odd years to understand that sports is not just about cricket, a non-Olympic sport and there is something more to it. The 'Olympics', the ultimate stage for sportspersons to exhibit their talent and superiority is a farce to most Indians. Who would watch those games that come every four years when an important India - Bangladesh cricket series is going on?
When I watched the Greece Olympics last year, I was astonished at the passion, enthusiasm and competitiveness among the sportspersons from all over the world. Of course, all years of intensive training goes waste if you are not able to win a medal. But people just want to perform at the highest level and prove themselves.
I asked my cousin sometime back when an Indo-Pak cricket match was on. Why are people so crazy about cricket? He said - "It's OUR COUNTRY da! Obviously there will be passion when our country is playing!"
I am also one among the billion fools who watched cricket, a game played in just 10 countries. In India, people are foolish enough to call cricket a religion and it took me some 20 odd years to understand that sports is not just about cricket, a non-Olympic sport and there is something more to it. The 'Olympics', the ultimate stage for sportspersons to exhibit their talent and superiority is a farce to most Indians. Who would watch those games that come every four years when an important India - Bangladesh cricket series is going on?
When I watched the Greece Olympics last year, I was astonished at the passion, enthusiasm and competitiveness among the sportspersons from all over the world. Of course, all years of intensive training goes waste if you are not able to win a medal. But people just want to perform at the highest level and prove themselves.
I asked my cousin sometime back when an Indo-Pak cricket match was on. Why are people so crazy about cricket? He said - "It's OUR COUNTRY da! Obviously there will be passion when our country is playing!"
It was then I realized the sad situation in Indian sports. People are excited and national/patriotic fervor comes to the fore only when cricket is played. Do people even know the our national football team was thrashed in the World Cup qualifiers? How about lending our support to OUR COUNTRY's footballers during those difficult times?
"Corporate support cricket because of the interest"
Major corporates queue up to sponsor a cricket series while the national football league has just a sponsor or two. Obviously the former would be telecast as it would generate more revenues for the sports channel. The corporate would say it is because of people's interest and the wide coverage by the media that they opt to sponsor cricket, thereby helping themselves and the
coverage for their brand. So, why not corporate come forward to train youngsters who will be able to excel in their chosen sport, thereby creating enough media coverage of the brand as well?
The eternal twelfth man in the Indian cricket team some years ago, Salil Ankola apparently made lakhs just because he was in the squad but did not play many games.
Many corporates have come forward only due to the wide media coverage after Sania Mirza started to play good tennis. But there are a lot more not-so-privileged Sanias who have the talent but not the monetary support to do well in order to be recognized.
"You see, the reason why people prefer watching cricket is they excel in it. Only when other sportspersons do well in their sports will people watch it."
Ok. First of all, I wouldn't even say India is excelling in cricket with the way they are playing right now and against just five or six major cricket playing nations!
Why is there a huge disparity between cricket and other sports? You know it is definitely the media to be blamed in this regard when cricketers washing their asses makes headlines.
"Zaheer Khan, the cricketer, opens his new restaurant" - is this really a front-page news in a national daily? Don't tell me people are going to buy the daily after seeing this news item!
Another front-page news..."Former cricket captain in match-fixing enquiry."
It is a shame that many cricketers took money in-exchange for playing badly. When youngsters aren't even encouraged when they play well in some sports, here are some losers who get embarrassing amounts of money and play badly as well.
But other sports federations should take a cue from the BCCI, the governing sports body of cricket in India regarding the marketing of the sport. Cricket is able to survive only because there is a market of billion people who are crazy about the sport.
Now I follow cricket as any other sport but I have stopped watching it though I read about the latest happenings in the papers. Life is short. No more do I want to waste eight hours in front of the television gaping at those cricketers when I get much more entertainment from watching a football game for a couple of hours!
It is not that I preach to all "Stop watching cricket" but people should develop some interest in other sports as well. It is not out of hatred of cricket I say that but the frustration that other sports aren't getting as much attention!
"Corporate support cricket because of the interest"
Major corporates queue up to sponsor a cricket series while the national football league has just a sponsor or two. Obviously the former would be telecast as it would generate more revenues for the sports channel. The corporate would say it is because of people's interest and the wide coverage by the media that they opt to sponsor cricket, thereby helping themselves and the
coverage for their brand. So, why not corporate come forward to train youngsters who will be able to excel in their chosen sport, thereby creating enough media coverage of the brand as well?
The eternal twelfth man in the Indian cricket team some years ago, Salil Ankola apparently made lakhs just because he was in the squad but did not play many games.
Many corporates have come forward only due to the wide media coverage after Sania Mirza started to play good tennis. But there are a lot more not-so-privileged Sanias who have the talent but not the monetary support to do well in order to be recognized.
"You see, the reason why people prefer watching cricket is they excel in it. Only when other sportspersons do well in their sports will people watch it."
Ok. First of all, I wouldn't even say India is excelling in cricket with the way they are playing right now and against just five or six major cricket playing nations!
Why is there a huge disparity between cricket and other sports? You know it is definitely the media to be blamed in this regard when cricketers washing their asses makes headlines.
"Zaheer Khan, the cricketer, opens his new restaurant" - is this really a front-page news in a national daily? Don't tell me people are going to buy the daily after seeing this news item!
Another front-page news..."Former cricket captain in match-fixing enquiry."
It is a shame that many cricketers took money in-exchange for playing badly. When youngsters aren't even encouraged when they play well in some sports, here are some losers who get embarrassing amounts of money and play badly as well.
But other sports federations should take a cue from the BCCI, the governing sports body of cricket in India regarding the marketing of the sport. Cricket is able to survive only because there is a market of billion people who are crazy about the sport.
Now I follow cricket as any other sport but I have stopped watching it though I read about the latest happenings in the papers. Life is short. No more do I want to waste eight hours in front of the television gaping at those cricketers when I get much more entertainment from watching a football game for a couple of hours!
It is not that I preach to all "Stop watching cricket" but people should develop some interest in other sports as well. It is not out of hatred of cricket I say that but the frustration that other sports aren't getting as much attention!
posted by Lucas @ 4:15 PM
7 Comments:
Correct cent pour cent (100%)!
The disparity in India is not just restricted to Sports, but many more areas. Take education for example, Arts and Literature enjoy very poor status compared to IT or communication technology. Who is to blame?
We the People!!!
after the match fixing allegations,i do think that cricket has lost its popularity.people like me who were die hard cricket fans dont wanna watch cricket anymore because we think that the match is anyway fixed.i do agree with u regarding promoting other sports.football is a good option.i would also like to see our national game (hockey) being promoted by the government.
Dudes...This guy Lucas is a real jerk.Every nation has its own unique flavour and cricket is one magnet which brings all Indians together.Imagine the days in Hostel when a 100 guys in 10x10 cheered in unision for the Indian team.The Americans have their baseball,the Scots rugby and the Indians have cricket.Now,what is the harm in that?
Obviously a lot of other nations are envious of this sport which enjoys a massive fan following.However, there are a lot of guys out there to denigrate the sport.One such guy is this Lucas(think he is a foreign agent)!
Now, a little about Lucas-He is a lazy bum and also a couch potato.Now, can anyone watch an East-Bengal vs Mohan Bagan for more than 5 minutes??well my friends,this guy does:-)Kudos to him!!Even pathetic is that he has friends very similar to him...eegad!!
The bottom line is that CRICKET IS THE GREATEST AND THE BEST SPORT FOR US NO MATTER WHAT ANY DUMBO HAS TO SAY.....
I request other CRICKET LOVERS to rally behind me and make this Lucas stop his slur on cricket.
@neo
u fool! as I said earlier, I never said "Stop watching cricket". it's upto u to remain a cricket-buff.
u are calling me a couch-potato when u r the one spending 8 hours a day, and sometimes 5 days watching cricket.
Do u even know a crowd of 150,000 people watch the Mohan Bagan-East Bengal match in the Nehru stadium every year?? And that's the largest number of spectators for any sport in India?? Of course, u wouldn't know that when all u care is
whether India beats Bangladesh in the one-day series!
Cricket maybe the best sport according to u and a lot other Indians...but I will not take back my opinion. As tlprado01 said, I would like hockey to become much popular and as our national game, they deserve that. ESPN-STARSports have finally understood that Indians are watching a lot other sports too and are rightly promoting PHL(Premier Hockey League, if u din't know!) and
football.
As much an arrogant and dim-witted person that u are, it would really help if u could come out of that nutshell called cricket and look at other wonderful things - things like sports, i mean hockey, football, athletics. Btw, these are also Olympic games...if don't know anything about Olympics u should close those cricinfo windows and check out Olymopics.org where u can learn about real sports!
Yes couch potato..u are right when u say that 1,50,000 people watch the East Bengal -Mogan Bagan match.But then that was ages back,when people had little access to the television.Now there are cows and donkeys grazing on those grounds adding fodder to the agri industry.
Now my friends, u can see that this Lucas hates cricket.I guess he must be Farting everytime ManU or some other European team scores a goal...
Lucas,yr game is up.better change yr opinion fast before we find yr true identity.
Btw, where the hell are my supporters???
It just proves your ignorance! FYI, it was last year, a record crowd of 150,000 people watched the Mohan Bagan-East Bengal match in Calcutta!
Cricket The Most Popular Game All Over The World & most favorable games for everyone who is gamer around the world. Cricket also enjoyable for children and older human. I think for good health and clear mind games are most needed in a human life. Computer games such as cricket is also enjoyable. Thanks our Cricket team.
Post a Comment
<< Home