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| Cricket in India | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | India |
| Governing body | Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) |
| National team(s) | Men Women U-19 Men U-19 Women |
| First played | 1721[1] |
| Clubs | 38 (First class) 12 (IPL, WPL) |
National competitions | |
List
| |
Club competitions | |
International competitions | |
Audience records | |
| Single match | 465,000 (Five-day Test) India v. Pakistan at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, 16–20 February 1999[2] |
| Season | 1,592,543 (Total) 26,528 per match 2017 IPL[3][unreliable source?] |
Cricket is the most popular sport in India. It is played almost everywhere in the country.[4][5] The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the governing body of Indian cricket and conduct all domestic tournaments and select the players for India national cricket team and India women's national cricket team.
Domestic competitions in India annually organized by BCCI include the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, the Irani Trophy and the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy. The Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 tournament where various city-based franchises compete in a style similar to American football, is one of the biggest sporting leagues and the biggest cricketing league in the world. In 2023 it launched a similar league for females, the Women's Premier League (WPL).
Cricket is generally viewed as the favourite sport of Indians. Sports broadcasters, national-international news media frequently claim that "cricket is like religion in India", people are crazy for the sport there, but the truth is far from it, Indians don't show up at the stadiums to witness domestic (except IPL) tournament (such as Ranji, Vijay Hazare trophy, Irani Cup etc.), non-India international matches and stadium remain empty, reason for this according to a senior figure in Indian broadcasting, "Indians don’t love cricket", "Indians love Indian cricket."[6]
International cricket in India does not follow a consistent pattern, unlike other cricketing teams such as England, who tour other countries during the winter and play at home during the summer. The Indian cricket team is one of the most successful cricket teams in the world, having won 2 ICC World Cups, 2 ICC World Twenty20, 2 ICC Champion's Trophies and finished runners up in 2 ICC World Test Championships. The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, was initially meant to be hosted by India. However, after the escalation of the COVID-19 Pandemic in India, the tournament was moved by the ICC to the United Arab Emirates. The 2023 Cricket World Cup was hosted by India.
Indian cricketers' association is the country's retired cricketers' union. It is recognized by BCCI, but the latter do not allow any active player to be part of it or any other players union. BCCI keep ICA's representative in its and IPL's apex council.
Cricket is an important part of Indian culture[7] and top players, like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni , Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli often attain celebrity status and are some of the most influential figures in the country. Cricket is often portrayed patriotically in popular Indian films, including the Academy Award-nominated film, Lagaan, and 83, the 2021 sports drama film about India's Cricket World Cup victory in 1983. The Indian cricket team shares a long-standing rivalry with the Pakistani cricket team, and India-Pakistan matches are some of the most anticipated matches in the world, and one of the most watched television broadcasts in the world.
- ^ Downing, Clement (1737). William Foster (ed.). A History of the Indian Wars. London.
- ^ "Largest attendance at a five-day Test match". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
- ^ "Top 10 Sports Leagues With Highest Average Attendance". 11 February 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ "7 Most Watched Sports in India". WION. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ "Top 10 Popular Sports In India - A Complete List". blog.decathlon.in. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ Wigmore, Tim (5 October 2023). "Cricket World Cup embarrassment as England v New Zealand played in empty 134,000-seat stadium". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ Nair, Nisha (1 June 2011). "Cricket obsession in India: through the lens of identity theory". Sport in Society. 14 (5): 569–580. doi:10.1080/17430437.2011.574351. ISSN 1743-0437. S2CID 144858524.