Cricket has become more popular than the national sports in the sub-continental countries.
What do you think are the reasons behind this?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Model Answer: 1
Cricket, traditionally an English sport, is becoming increasingly popular in other parts of the world like Australia, South Africa, Indian Continents etc. But the popularity is evidently the highest among the countries of the Indo-Pak sub-continent, for reasons that are historical, anthropological, geographical, and even commercial. There are more than 200 crore audiences of cricket only in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Srilanka and they are certainly the highest part of cricket fans than another part of the world.
The game of Cricket came to South-Asia in the hands of the English colonists centuries ago and has seeped into the hearts of the people here while the cricketers of here have won over the hearts of the English. This inter–continental love-affair perhaps has made the south-Asians elope with the Bat and Ball from their national and ethnic sports. Also, World Cup wins in the 80s and 90s, and phenomenal performers like Hanif Mohammed of the 50s and Sachin Tendulkar of late, all have made Cricket more psychologically ethnic than the native sports of this region. Mother Nature had her hand in it too. Cricket is compared with religion in the country like India. Even when the war and conflicts hot the air of India and Pakistan, the stadium tied the friendship these two countries.
Some opine that South-Asians are natural cricketers. It has indeed been proven that the sub-continent players are more adaptive to the physiological demands of Cricket compared to how they get naturalised to other international sports e.g. Football, Basketball etc. Also, the climatic conditions here are relatively more suitable for playing cricket compared to the climates of many other parts of the globe. Not to forget, the virtually uncountable population of this region that continually fuels the ever-sprouting 11-member teams needed to stage only half of a Cricket game and supplies the hundreds of millions of spectators to cheer the players. Altogether, it is like a match made in heaven, “divine” enough to surpass any hereditary bond.
Commerce plays its own amazingly profitable part too. Cricket enthusiasts of here have become the primary consumer base of many global enterprises who mass-charm the sub-continent customers through extravagantly sponsored tournaments. ICC, the governing body of world Cricket, also cajoles the people here because of their financial utility and cossets them from their sporting heredity. The national sport of the Indian sub-continent is only official and in practice, they are not popular at all. The kids play cricket in the fields, streets, rain harvesting fields and even in the terrace of the building. They show a little interest in other national sports and thus how the appeal of those games are reducing.
Regardless of where it came from, the most certain conclusion to be made here is that Cricket is to stay and sustain in the nourishment of the South-Asian pandemonium and will indefinitely reign over the people here like the God-sent hero who conquers not only the matter but also the nativity.
Cricket, without any double, is the most popular game in sub-continent countries like India, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and this popularity is so bulging that many nations in this part of the world know better about cricket than they do about their national games. Strange it might seem, but it is a fact that less than 10% people are interested in their national game while more than 90% people consider cricket as their passion in those countries. There are several reasons for that and among them, historical, anthropological, colonial, political, commercial and geographical reasons are most substantial reasons for this.
Cricket was introduced to this sub-continent by the English and because of their colonies in this part of Asia, people politically got interested in this game. Like many other things that people adopted from English, cricket was no exception. Later this became a popular game because people easily accepted it as an exciting sport and started participating in this game. Because of geographical reason, people started doing better in this game and they found them to be good at a sport which is widely accepted.
More than 180 crore people inhabit in this part of the world and that made it a commercially hot spot for spreading the game and ICC found it to be a great part in increasing the popularity of the game. Among the 10 test playing nations, 4 nations are from this sub-continent and it is natural that people would prefer a game that they participate in the world cup level.
Apart from the political, commercial and colonial reason, people of this part are naturally good at this sport and the world has seen many great players who came from this part. The mass media also contributed in making this game popular and there are several sports channels in this region that exclusively broadcast cricket all day long.
It is inevitable that people would participate in sports that they are good at, which they enjoy and have international renown and that’s why the national and traditional games, which are scarcely known to the rest of the world, have lost their popularity while the cricket has acclaimed its own rights to the people of this sub-continent area.
evidently- ज़रूर
anthropological- मानवविज्ञान
colonists- उपनिवेशों
inter–continental- महाद्वीपीयों के बीच का
phenomenal – अभूतपूर्व
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