When it comes to games, Cricket is leading the way in India, the national game of hockey is far behind. The passion of the people for the game is evident in the matches that are organized in India. Hence, it is more than often said that cricket has achieved the status of religion in India with millions of followers to its credit. The fan base transcends all cultural and religious barriers in the country. People are so passionate about the game that it is almost impossible for a neutral cricket viewer to come and enjoy the game. Crowds start filling the stadium 5 hours before match days.

The different versions of the game have their respective followers with the One Day and Twenty 20 matches made up of youth players and the Test Matches for game lovers. The game which is mainly played by 8-10 nations is all the rage in the Indian subcontinent with India leading the way. People closely follow their favorite cricketers and even a minute of incident in their lives becomes a major story in the news. It may be fascinating to the sports fraternity around the world that the boards of said game are among the richest in the world. For example, the BCCI (Board for Cricket and Control in India) is the richest in the world, leaving behind the best football clubs and the game played by almost every country in the world.

So it’s quite natural that people know how you can create a success story with a game that is only played by a miniscule number of nations, some of which are still developing economies. But it will be a revelation to them and to the fans of the game that there are very few spectators who come to watch the matches at local or club level and therefore only attend international matches. Most of them attend the games in which the home team plays and see the home team win. There are quite a few times when India was losing the match and the stadium had to be evacuated due to the riot of the crowd and throwing bottles at the opposing team. There’s a maddening celebration after winning a game and effigies of players getting burned after losing a game. Hence, a basic question arises – do we Indians really love the game of Cricket?

If Indians really appreciate the game then there should be a wide audience at local club level matches and the level of these games would also be higher. Unfortunately this is not the case in India. It is true that people are crazy but they want to see India win. They can’t appreciate the good things in the game, even if the home country is winning, let alone when they lose a game. This may not seem like an appropriate justification to an avid cricket lover from India, but the picture will be very clear if we visit other countries and sports.

For example, the stadium is full at club level matches in England and Australia and people stay until the end of the match. They appreciate a good shot even by an opposing player’s team that is directly opposite in India, as there is a pin-drop silence even if the opposing player has taken a beautiful shot or taken a crucial wicket. This is magnified if we get to witness other games like tennis. It’s a common case there when people come together to appreciate a good game instead of supporting a particular player. There are quite a few instances where Swiss maestro Roger Federer is acclaimed for his shot beating British Andy Murray at Wimbledon. Ironically, the game of cricket faces stiff competition in its various iterations, with One Day Cricket threatening Test matches, while Twenty20 threatening all of them.

Therefore, if Cricket has ambitions to become a global game, its reception needs to be a bit more serious in a country like India, which has the largest fan base for the game. Otherwise, BCCI’s success story will be temporary and it will only be about charging the sentiments of the masses. They will have to promote the game at the grassroots level and then move on to the next level to introduce it to nations that are completely new to the game.