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Cricket in the Indian subcontinent From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cricket is the most popular sport in South Asia, with 90% of the sport's worldwide fans being in the region.[1]
Cricket has helped shape national identities across South Asia,[7] contributing to the self-esteem of peoples throughout the region and creating cultural bonds between them.[8][9][10] The game has played a role in reducing caste discrimination and other social barriers among South Asians.[11][12] Cricket's role in South Asia has often been associated with local geopolitical events; for example, India-Pakistan matches have been affected and even cancelled at times due to tensions between the two countries,[13][14] while the opposing sides in the Sri Lankan Civil War were willing to declare a ceasefire for the duration of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.[15][16]
Cricket started to become the most popular sport in South Asia around the time of India's 1983 Cricket World Cup victory, overtaking the previous local favorite field hockey.[17][18] Further growth happened with the televising of cricket in regional languages.[16] Another major milestone in Indian cricket was the 2007 launch of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which has become one of the wealthiest sports leagues in the world.[19] These developments have led to South Asia becoming very important in world cricket's decision-making, and being a financially important place for other countries to tour when playing international cricket.[17]
India and Pakistan have a very heated cricket rivalry, with India-Pakistan cricket matches (particularly at global events) being some of the highest-viewed matches in global sport.[20] Cricket has been suggested by a number of commentators as a possible way to create peace between the two countries.[21][22][8]
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