CRICKET HAS SPOILED OTHER STREAMS OF

INDIAN SPORTS

Number of participants: 5

Time: 20 Mins

Rahul Reddy Started:

Good Morning everyone, it is my pleasure to be seated with you all for this exciting discussion. Let's fully participate in this and try to come up with a concrete end remark.

I think, it is not justified to think cricket as a national obsession. It is the one game through which we Indians are able to hold our heads high. We won two world cups and have been on top in tests for two odd years. Whatever it has brought is quite appreciable.

India has been winning gold in other sports as well. Abhinav Bindra won gold in Olympics. The Indian hockey team has won 8 golds in past. All achievements are highly appreciated. But it is also a fact that it happened when TV's and internet are on full bloom.

In 1983 when India won the world cup, television was just gaining popularity. Even then the cricket fever was high. Thus, it is more popular than any other sport.

Every Indian wants to play cricket in streets. It is in Indian blood and no media is required for cricket. Cricket is, and will be the most popular sport in India. I hope other sports also do well.

Smriti Nigam said:

Hello everyone, I do agree with my friend here.



Even I don't think that cricket have hurt any other sports. Cricket is interesting, fuels excitement, inculcates patriotic feeling. How can it be the "SPORT'S" fault?

I think it is just because cricket has a very interesting format. Thus, it has become so popular and loved by all. It is followed as a religion. The cricketers are worshiped as God in our country.

The fame that cricket has given to India, cannot be ignored. As far as other sports are concerned, they have not lost their importance. Be it tennis, badminton or hockey they are still very popular. But yes, it is a fact that cricket is more popular and followed by more people.

Himanshu said:

Good Morning friends,

I don't think cricket as a national obsession is a deterrent to other sports. Cricket has got popularity because of the legends cricket has given to us – Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, etc. It is because of the achievement of these people; cricket is appreciated in India.

Recently, Rajyawardhan Singh Rathore won silver in Olympics for shooting. Post that we won lots of medals in shooting. If we want other games to be equally appreciated, then we need legends in them too. I believe if other sports also produce great players; then they will get as much appreciation as cricket in this country.

Mayank Aggarwal said:

Hello Friends,

As the topic suggests, that cricket is detriment to other sports, I quite agree with it. It is because:

Cricket game is promoted by the way of advertisement. Cricket sport stars get different kinds of products to endorse.

Match between India and Pakistan has a cult fan base. The way it is advertised definitely makes it detrimental to other sports. It also hampers national peace to certain extent. In newspapers, most of the sports page are filled with cricket news

So, along with cricket, the Indian media too, is playing the role of detriment to other sports of India.

Media has the highest power today in our country. If it wishes, it can change the shape of sports too.

Abin Thomas said:

Hello everyone,I don't think that cricket is a detriment to other sports. But it is the bias towards cricket. This is what is destructing other sports. Most people are unaware that India has teams in Hockey, Rugby, Soccer, Basketball, etc. It feels mortified that a nation like India does not support its athletes.



I hope that we will recognize our athletes of all games and supports them in their respective sports.

Rahul Reddy said:

As I suggested, according to me cricket is not at all detrimental to any other sports. It is suppressed by us. I believe we are totally responsible for it. There is no comparison between two sports. Each has its own charm and significance. How can cricket suppress the other sports?

It is just that Indian people are crazy about the cricket. So, the comparison lies not in sports but in our thinking. Few days ago, the Economic Times conducted a survey to find out who inspires the people in the field of sports and the results announced that almost -

43% people inspires with S R Tendulkar

35% people inspires with M S Dhoni

11% people inspires with S. Nehwal

04% people inspires with Vijendra Singh

04% people inspires with A. Bindra

This survey observed that a total of 78% people inspired by the cricketers, that shows the craziness of the people towards cricket.

Mayank Aggarwal said:

Well, I personally feel that obsession with cricket is a detriment to other sports. It is because of the way it is promoted. Just like a movie is hyped and all of us go to watch it. But on the same time some epic movie just gets neglected because of poor advertisement.

Also, it is not the case that there is less talent in other sports. If other sports are unable to match up to the expectations, it is because of improper training and meagre monetary help.

Smriti Nigam said:

Well friends, I like and support cricket a lot. However, I feel that unintentionally cricket has come to a point from where it is becoming detrimental to other sports.

How many of us watch other sports played by Indian sportsmen and sportswomen? I am sure only a handful! Why is it so? One definite reason is the hype that cricket gets through the media. People not only watch the match with shear attention but also the pre-and post-match shows.

Another reason is the monetary investment by the Government and by business individuals. This lures the youth to pursue cricket. Lastly, I would say that the Government should take necessary measures to allow other sports to flourish.

Abin Thomas Concluded:

Now, if we conclude our discussion I would like to highlight the main points that were discussed.

First: Majority of us agreed that the Game of Cricket, in itself, is not spoiling other streams of sports but it's the audience that goes crazy for its favorite sport.

Second: Media should give as much exposure to other sports as much it does to cricket.

Third: Government and Corporate people need to fund other sports as well so that they could get better training and bring home as much popularity as cricket does.