Cricket, India's Other Blockbuster After Bollywood

Delhi Diary By M.Santhiran KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- India is a cricket crazy nation. No other sports enjoy such exalted status not only in the country but also throughout the Indian sub-continent. The testimony to this is the cult like following for the gentlemen’s game introduced to the Indians by the British during the colonial days. Top cricketers are literally venerated in India. Names like Sachin Tendulkar, KL Rahul, M. S. Dhoni and Virat Kohli are not only etched in the game history but also in the hearts of the millions of cricket fans in the country. In India, only the cricket greats could stand at par with Bollywood celebrities when comes to publicity and huge following. Go anywhere in India and you will see their faces. Anyone landing at New Delhi's Indra Ghandi Airport will immediately come across their faces at the large billboards placed along the highway heading to the city centre. UNITED BY CRICKET Children playing the game on the streets or open spaces, some with broken bats and torn balls, is a common scene in major cities or rural areas. The cricket madness was evident here over the past few weeks in conjunction with the Cricket World Cup 2015 jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. News on the Indian team dominated the local media with hourly updates on the Indian team's progress which made it to the semi-finals. During any conversation with the locals, the cricket subject will some how rather crop up. Since I am a stranger to this game, I find it difficult to engage in conversation with local journalists whenever they discus cricket. They invited me to watch live telecast matches involving India but I found it difficult to pick up the terms. However, I was amazed with the fans who were so passionate and loyal about the game. They literally glue themselves to TV sets for hours whenever India plays, and mind you a session of the games goes up to eight hours. The entire nation comes together and literally nothing moves during the game, especially matches involving India and its arch rival Pakistan. THE CRICKET WAR I wish to share my first hand experience during the India and Pakistan match in the preliminary round of the World Cup. I was in Mumbai for an assignment during the match. The hotel where I stayed was only a walking distance to the famous landmark of the city, "Gateway of India". In the morning around 9 am the landmark and surrounding areas were crowded with thousands of visitors. Two hours later, as the match started, the place was almost deserted. Nearby restaurants and pubs were packed to the brim and the patrons glued to the screen. An "electrifying" and carnival like atmosphere erupted when the Indian team took the lead. A staff at the hotel told me that the India-Pakistan matches literally trigger a "war" mood in India, as it was a matter of national pride for both nations that have been to war four times and see border skirmishes and stand offs regularly. And during the eight-hour match, I had difficulty in getting a cab for sightseeing and even when I secured one I had to pay extra for the demanding cabby. As for the Indians, any win against Pakistan calls for celebration. According to my local journalist friends, whether India wins the cup or not is not the point of contention, as long as they defeat Pakistan it is like winning the cup itself. Thus, later in the afternoon when the match was over, people started pouring into the streets to celebrate India’s win, setting off fireworks until late night and even sharing sweet and drinks. On the following day almost all major dailies carried the news as the lead story and with editorials after editorials praising or lambasting the team’s performance. CRICKETERS EARN MILLIONS Like the Bollywood idols, Indian national cricketers earn millions of rupees and appear in commercials featuring household products to telecommunication companies. Two of its current top cricketers M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli are enjoying six figure income. According to latest figures of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Dhoni, captain of the Indian team is ranked 15th highest paid athlete in the world and earned about US$3.5 million (RM13 million) annually, and his assets worth more than US$31.5 million (RM116 million). He is the richest cricketer in the world. Kohli earned about US$3 million (RM11.3 million) and said to be the future cricket legend, and his assets worth about US$12 million (RM44 million). Some of these players own local clubs and known for their luxury lifestyles, shopping and holidaying in Dubai and Europe. When they travel within India, they receive VIP treatments with some of their fans worshipping them like "demi-gods". Even parents encourage their children to take up cricket and middle income group join the fray enrolling their kids with clubs even though fees are relatively high. For me, I have yet to really catch up with cricket as I am die-hard fan of the premier league football. -- BERNAMA