About four decades ago, cricket was far less prevalent in India. It’s not because of the sport itself but because India didn’t have any chances in cricket. Today, however, this has changed a lot. Today, every person from India has fallen in love with the sport, and they have multiple reasons for that. One of them is that they are world championship holders. That and the fact they have a massive number of fans is promising that we can see many great things in the future.
Beginnings Of Indian Cricket
Many believe that cricket originated in India and was played there for centuries. The first time cricket dates back to the 14th century, so many people thought it was a game for royal families and other elites. And we believe that it started that way. After about four centuries in the 18th century, it gained popularity among the general population when it was reintroduced by Brits staying in India. It started gaining popularity quickly, but it differed from how popular cricket is now in India.
Rise In Popularity
The first spike in the people’s interest was the first world championship won by the Indian team in 1983. It was a team of mostly new players at the time, and with the young age came an attacking mindset. On paper, this team has yet to look like they could leave a dent, let alone win a world championship. So, in the 80s, cricket became a leading sport in India, and that’s when many players started to make a name for themselves. For example, Gavaskar became the first-ever player to cross the 10,000 runs mark and 34 centuries in test format. Another great example is Kapil Dev, the greatest all-rounded that came out of India; he was the first player to reach 5000 runs and 400 wickets. Another great year for cricket in India was 2011 when they won another world cup. At that time, people are already aware of the presence of cricket and that it has become their number one sport. But cricket received more fans and recognition because of another world championship title.
Achievements That Led To The Massive Popularity
Here are the essential things that India’s men’s national cricket team, also known as the Men in Blue, have achieved in the history of their competition.
- Two Cricket World Cups: Won in 1983 and 2011.
- ICC T20 World Cup: Won in 2007.
- Two ICC Champions Trophy: Won in 2002 and 2013.
- Two T20 World Cup: Won in 2007 and 2014.
- Runner Ups Cricket World Cup: This was in 2003.
- Two Championship Trophy: Won in 2000 and 2017.
- Runner Ups ICC World Test Championship: Because of the pandemic, this was during the 2019-2021 season.
- Seven Asia Cups: Won in 1984, 1988, 1990, 1995, 2010, 2016, 2018.
There were many more 2nd places, but the list would be shorter. Everybody should understand why cricket is so prevalent in India after this list.
Closing Thoughts
We hope you understand why cricket has become so popular in India and how they have become a world-class cricket country. If they continue to put on these results, there are no questions that they will achieve a lot, and the sport will be even bigger than it already is.
