India’s national sport is hockey; however, Indian citizens are enormous supporters of cricket. Therefore, people watch the live match and celebrate it as a festival in India. It was introduced in the 18th century by some European merchant sailors, and India officially registered in the first test match in 1932.
The love for this game has increased since then until the 21st century. India’s first-ever Test win came against England at Madras in 1952. India’s first series win was against Pakistan after that same stretch. In 1954, India drew a 5- Test series with Pakistan 0 – 0. The batting strength from India had come from Polly Umrigar and Vijay Manjrekar, while the primary bowler was Subhash Gupte, with 21 wickets in the series.
India’s first series against New Zealand in 1956 created a comprehensive series win for India, winning the 5- Test series 2 – 0. M.H. Mankad was excellent in his batting, making up105.2 in the series while scoring 526 runs. Once again, S.M. Gupte held India’s bowling together, with 34 wickets. The remainder of the 1950s didn’t show as good results as the start. India lost a 3- Test series to Australia (2-0), lost a 5- Test series against the West Indies (3-0)
The squad’s performances began to enhance in the 1960s, starting with their first series win over England in 1961 – 62. During this time, India’s strong record at home started to develop, in which the squad won a series against New Zealand in 1965-66 and drew a series against Pakistan, Australia, and England. In 1967 – 68, India won their first series outside the continent against New Zealand.
Just like the movie stars, Indian cricketers also have a vast fan base worldwide. Some Indian cricket legends like Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid, Ms Dhoni have contributed a lot to the increasing fan base of Indians towards cricket. Their fans keep a track of their live score religiously. Different match formats took place, like one day and T20, making the game more exciting and entertaining.
The new tournaments like the Indian Premier League, Champions Trophy, and Big Bash League have made the competition between the teams very entertaining. These leagues are the most popular tournaments besides the World Cup in cricket. People love to support their local groups in the IPL and watch live scores. The game is played for almost 2-3 months during the evening so that the fans can come home after work and watch the match to relieve all the work stress and entertain themselves. Cricket makes Indian fans happy and excited, which results in a great stress reliever.
People support their sports and watch these live sports, like football and basketball in the USA and hockey in Canada, even in different countries. People like to sit at home with their family and friends and cheer for the team they are supporting, and it is the same feeling people get when we celebrate any festival like Diwali or Christmas with our family.
In India, cricket is the most-watched sport. Of course, people also enjoy hockey, kabaddi, and football, but the primary audience is cricket fans.
