Cricket is currently the leading sport that excites majority of the people in our country.

The
journey of cricket began with the East India Company’s introduction to Indian’s in the 18 th
century. Even when hockey was considered as the national sport of the country, it was cricket
that had much more demand more fan following. The praise and dedication that fans are ready to
give to cricket for the nation is no less than the endorsed national sport of India.
The beginning of the game did not go as smoothly and as justifiably as it is in the 21st century.
Internationally, cricket started in the 16th century, first in USA and Canada. Cricket was
introduced to North America via the English colonies in the 17th century, before it even reached
the north of England. It was introduced to the West Indies by colonists and it arrived in Australia
just as soon as colonization began in 1788 and South Africa followed in the early years of the
19th century. Initially the game gained a lot of importance in these countries, but slowly the
audience did not grasp the idea of the sport and thus, it’s demand stopped being as much as it
originally did.
As a result of this, countries like USA and Canada gave up on cricket and switched to other
sports like rugby which were actually in demand in the named countries.
Initially, countries like England and Australia had a strong lead in cricket, it is said so because of
their economic dominance and development of the market. The idea of England’s dominance on
cricket began since colonialization when Britain became one of the major promoters of cricket
and introduced it to the countries it was ruling on. Cricket further helped these countries to boost
their economy and earn billions with the demand of the people and their enthusiasm with the
sport.
Traditionally, India is believed to be much stronger at home than abroad; regardless, the Indian
cricket team has improved its overseas form. This is even proven since the start of the 21st
century when India began winning matches in Australia, England and South Africa. It has also
won the cricket world cup twice – once under the captaincy of Kapil Dev in 1983 and the next
one in 2011 under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. After these two wins, India became
the only third team after West Indies and Australia to have won the world cup more than once
To outsiders, the magnitude of Indian’s love for cricket is comprehensible as its feverish
intensity. The hype and love for cricket is so much, that when India wins any match against a
strong and competitive team, the country celebrates it like a festival and that is when the whole
country comes together and stands proud of its cricket team. Cricket has reached such a level in
our country that the cricketers who win the matches and make the nation proud are treated no
less than any individual doing Nobel work; one of the best example of the same happened in
February of 2014 when Sachin Tendulkar was awarded with India’s highest civilian award –
Bharat Ratna. As the growth and love of fans for cricket increases it leads to a direct growth of
media and thus the economy of the country. Currently, India has over millions of fans of the
sport and according to some recent statistics, over 400 million people watch the match’s live
streaming, which again, boosts the media and thus the economy.
India started matching with the dominance and market ability of England and Australia by
introducing the idea of Indian Premier League (IPL) which is a professional Twenty20 cricket
league. The concept of the game was founded by the BCCI in 2008. The idea of IPL took a quick
jump and all the active international teams wanted to be a part of the same. The introduction of
the game in the field gave a huge spur to the economy, leading to more and more demand of
people for the matches and thus, even 11 years later, the game of IPL is watched with the same
enthusiasm by the fans as it did for the first time in 2008.
The sport has successfully formed a decent market for itself in the nation and thus leading to the
growth of the country’s economy through that market. It is believed that currently, cricket has
formed a billion-dollar market industry in the country and with the given number of fans, there is
no going back.