India is not a cricket loving country, but a cricketer loving country

The second session on Day 2 of the Journalists Literature Festival saw a riveting discussion on ‘Sports in India: Cricket vs Others’, with seasoned cricket journalist Vijay Lokapally, television presenter Vikrant Gupta, and hockey writer Prabhjot Singh sharing their insights. It was moderated by Umesh Sharma.

On being asked by Sharma, why cricket is dominating over other sports, Lokapally credited the BCCI for making cricket glamorous. “Earlier, hockey players were given a great deal of importance, but after the 1983 World Cup Win, things changed. A major credit for it goes to the BCCI.”

Gupta, however, differed and insisted that the sport had been popular before ’83 as well as around 90,000 people would show up in stadiums, and people would get together to listen to it on the radio too. 

On India’s love for cricket he said, “We all know that India is not a sports-loving country. It is a misconception that it is a cricket-loving country, it is actually a cricketer-loving country.” 

He said that with the glamouraisation and the money flowing into it, the passion for cricket is reducing. Players are turning away Rs 2-lakh contracts for domestic matches!”   

Gupta said that the footage and attention given to cricket is according to what people want to see, the day India won an Olympic medal in hockey at Tokyo the TRP was 180-190, but ton the day of a T20 match it would hit 1970. “So, the question is who is to blame. It should not be cricket versus others, it should be cricket and others.”  

Prabhjot Singh, asserted that the Chandigarh Press Club was the first to host a national seminar on hockey. Emphasising on the class divides reinforced by sports, he said, “It was the British who brought hockey, cricket and golf to India. Hockey was played in the cantonments by lower middle-class Indians, the middle, upper middle class and some royals preferred cricket, and the elites could play golf.” 

Lokapally also emphasised on the importance of maintaining your credibility, even if it meant roundly criticising players one is friends with.