An overdose of cricket leads to disinterest!

Winning a Cricket World Cup is a momentous occasion for any cricket loving nation, especially for a nation like India. It is a monumental event! Cricket is not just a sport in India; it is akin to a religion.

When Indian cricket fans think back to the ODI victories of 1983, 2011 and the 2007 T20 World Cup, they still get goosebumps!

The question is: Are people in India really celebrating the cricket team’s recent World Cup victory? Is winning this World Cup trophy really comparable to previous championships? Will the 2024 T20 World Cup victory be remembered like the victories in 1983, 2007 and 2011? The answer is a resounding no!

When Dhoni lifted the 2007 T20 trophy, India celebrated wildly! After winning in 1983, India held on to their hopes for every World Cup that was organized every 4 years. In 2003, India failed at the last step, which made the wait for the 2007 T20 title even sweeter. Many young cricketers turned into overnight stars after the victory. Every cricketer will always be remembered for that victory, including Joginder Sharma who bowled the last over of the last match, even though he played very few matches after that.

Kapil Devils, and also the 2007 and 2011 teams led by Dhoni, are cherished by Indian cricket fans. But not many fans can name all 11 players from the 2024 World Cup finals without doing a Google search. It just shows the difference!

Are Indians really fed up with cricket? It could be! Perhaps it’s because of too much cricket. According to statistics, the T20 World Cup final attracted 50 million live views! While this is a substantial number, how does it compare to the viewership of the 2011 or 2007 World Cup final?

Back then, many villages struggled with access to satellite dishes and electricity. Now you can watch on your mobile phone, so the number of viewers is higher. Each view now counts for one person, but back then, there were an average of 20 to 30 people in front of each TV. If we were to consider the real impact of each view, the numbers would be huge!

The T20 World Cup was held almost immediately after last year’s ODI World Cup, with a long IPL season in between. India’s declining interest in cricket, commercialisation of the sport and money-driven deals have led to disinterest even in a World Cup victory.

The BCCI may not be concerned about this as it is only focused on making money. There should be a much needed gap between these events!