Some say cricket is a religion in India. They are wrong.
Cricket is a game followed by many Indians. It is popular. That does not make it a religion.
AIR and DD promoted cricket. India did reasonably well in cricket. In other games India lagged far behind.
There is no god of cricket.
There are people with vested interests who create hypes. When it is India —Pakistan series they say it is the greatest rivalry in sport. When it is India —Australia series they say it is the greatest rivalry in sport, bigger than Ashes or India —Pakistan series.
Commerce dominates sports. Those who bid for TV rights decide the format. There is no money to be gained by participating in Asian Games, so BCCI does not send a team to Asian Games.
If the choice for a cricketer is between receiving Padma Shri or making money by shooting for an ad film for a product the cricketer chooses making money.
Some cricketers want to play in IPL but not Tests for their countries. IPL is business and entertainment.
Indians follow various sports. When it is World Cup Football many Indians watch matches even though India is not a participant. Indians follow car race, tennis tournaments and European Football leagues. There was interest in Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao welterweight category boxing match which was hyped as match of the century. Asian Games and Olympics have a following.
Some want betting to be legal. They say you cannot stop betting so make it legal. It is like saying you cannot stop rape so make it legal. CBI Director Ranjit Sinha wanted betting to be legal and he said if a woman cannot avoid rape she should lie down and enjoy it. It is a disgrace that he was not sacked. He continued till the last day of his term and retired. Making betting legal does not end fixing whether it is of match, spot, toss or session. Illegal betting thrives along with legal betting.
True. Cricket is just another game which is a medium for gaining money, for the rich to gain more cash. More following has only made it a worse game, not religion.
The personification of fanaticism by cricket followers call it religion, in order to show how “devoted” they are to this field.