Should cricket be made the national game of India?
As a kid growing up in the 90s, cricket was something which instantly created a deep inner connect. Right from the days of watching young champions in Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble conquer the world, cricket acquired a big placed in my heart.
The moments which I remember most from my childhood are related to cricket. Be it Sachin’s last over in the Hero Cup semifinal in 1993, the routing of the mighty England in India by Kumble, the heartbreak of losing the World Cup semifinals against Sri Lanka in 1996, the Srinath Kumble charge in that unbelievable win against Australia during the Titan Cup in 1996.
Apart from eating non-veg food and solving my Maths, cricket was the only and the biggest passion in my life. I spent months and tournaments on an end fantasizing and urging India over the line.
I am sure there will be millions of other 90s kids who will have similar memories and thrills thinking about those days. Some of our elders like grandpas would often talk about hockey and even enjoy the rare good show by India on the field, but to this new India, cricket was something which gave them the biggest joy and the belief that we could be the best in the world at something.
So, the question is, why not make cricket the national sport of India, as it has been the only thing truly connected to the national fabric and spirit of our nation in the last three decades and more.
Cricket India and India as a nation have shared similar paths
Nothing has been more reflective of our nation’s story and its evolution over the last many years, than cricket.
As a nation, we were slowing growing in stature and confidence during the 1990s, and our cricket and cricketers during that time reflected our nation’s story. We were shy, a little unsure as a nation, still coming to terms with the opening of our economy and resulting changes. We had hopes of a brighter future, but uncertainty went hand-in-glove with that.
Our cricket was also like that. Barring a few geniuses, most of our cricketers were shy, modest people, who didn’t look the opponent in the eye, played it safe and often panicked when pressure came.
With times and the dawn of the new century, we became more confident and brash, and it reflected in our cricket team also. Under blokes like Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and others, we became more fiery and tempestuous. We started giving it back to the opponents and returning fire with fire. It was a reflection of the new, more confident India.
With moving times, we started believing more and more in ourselves as a nation, and feeling that success was inevitable. There started developing a calm and steely confidence in our rise and destiny as a future world leader.
These times coincided with the rise of players like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, a different breed of Indian cricketers, who have much more self-belief and steely calm minds under pressure. The new generation truly believes that it can be world beaters for a long time, and have tasted a lot of success too to solidify their beliefs. We are now the powerhouse of international cricket.
Passion cricket generates and the way it unites India
Cricket is a national passion and obsession in our country. Whenever any cricket match involving India happens, the entire nation comes to a standstill. People tune in to their T.V. sets, mobiles, smartphones, and even stand outside electronic showrooms for hours to follow their heroes at work.
No other sport in India has been followed with such passion and zeal. People simply love their cricket here, and cricketing victories give more joy than anything else in their lives. The celebrations after our World Cup victory in 2011 were amongst the biggest ever in independent India’s history.
Cricket also unites the country in ways no other thing does. The entire nation forgets its differences of language, beliefs, cultures, etc, when it comes to following their national cricket team. We may be racist or hypocrites or anything else as a nation, but when our cricketers play, we forget who belongs to which state or religion or belief system, and see them as one team, one nation, India. We truly bleed blue!
Cricket is the de-facto national sport of India, why not make it official?
All said and done, cricket is undoubtedly the de-facto national sport and passion of India. It is bigger than Bollywood, bigger than all other sports combined, bigger than virtually anything in India. So, it would be only wise to make cricket the official national sport of India.
After all, cricket has given more joy and delight to our lives than anything else, and we as a nation can pay a little bit of the debt by declaring it as the national sport of India. We owe cricket this little show of respect from our side as a nation!