India is full of so many traditions, cultures & religions. But only one religion every Indian people follow, and that religion is the CRICKET. Actually CRICKET is a game; but in India, Cricket is a religion for the people.
Cricket in India is the most popular and most watched sport as compared to all other sports in India. The passion, the craze, the thrill and the excitement that the spectators experience is in-matchable to that of any other sport. Cricket in India is like Football in Brazil or Spain. The enthusiasm and the excitement is above all other things. Cricket in India is everyone’s favorite (still there are few who doesn’t like the hype of the game) and is played by most people. People here in India can talk cricket all the time. Cricket flows in their blood and probably that’s the reason for “We Bleed Blue” slogan we saw on t-shirts during ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.!(
Cricket is India is not the national sport, though it may seem like. Cricket in India was introduced by Britons who ruled India for about 200 years and now it has struck deep roots in our country. The craze is such that, they watch one match and talk about it for rest of the week. They watch it from the opening ceremony to dressing room discussions to the pitch report till the end of presentation ceremony. In short they watch every single bit of it and regret a lot if by any chance miss a shot or a wicket or even a single run.
Cricket in India for such enthusiasts have become a religion. One reason for these cricket obsessed people to take it as a religion could be that the greatest batsman in the cricketing history hails from India and his name is Sachin Tendulkar. He is a person who doesn’t need any introduction. He, over the period of time has become the God of Cricket in India. Many youngsters look up to him to become at least 1/10th of what he is today.
Recently in Asia cup, Sachin scored his 100th Century against Bangladesh and it is a record that is impossible or very difficult to break. This record include 49 Centuries he scored in One-Day Internationals and 51 Centuries scored in Test Cricket. It was a day to be remembered and those who saw it happening, for them its the best day in the history of Cricket in India. He is a God like figure for die-hard Fan. There are many people for who Cricket is only because of Sachin, they watch it to see him.
Cricket in India has become an obsession. An obsession to watch, to talk, to collect information, to discuss and appreciate the Gentleman’s Game. Cricket in India is Highly publicized game as compared to other sports of India. You can see kids, young boys even men playing gully (street) cricket in India. The love for the game is incomparable to any other game. May be that’s why it is correct to say that Cricket in India is more of a religion than a game.
Resource:
Indiamark
Indian Media