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Cricket in South Asia

Cricket in the Indian subcontinent From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cricket in South Asia
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Cricket is the most popular sport in South Asia, with 90% of the sport's worldwide fans being in the region.[1]

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The 2023 Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan.

History

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Colonial era

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One reason for cricket's initial adoption in South Asia was its similarity to local games, such as gilli-danda (pictured above) and seven stones.[2]
Cricket was brought to India in the early 1700s, with the first documented instance of cricket being played in 1721. At the time of its introduction, it was used as a medium for Indians to integrate into British cultural norms.[3] By serving as a bridge between the two groups, it made assimilating much easier. During its early years in India, the sport was played by Indian elites to gain favour with the British. This not only increased the sport’s value due to its association with the elite but also helped it gain popularity across the country.[4] Although it began as a foreign sport, the sport ultimately became associated with India and began to play a role in India's identity. In the late 1800s, cricket's image began to move away from being an exclusively upper class sport as players from lower castes and underprivileged communities began to play and make their mark.[5]

Contemporary era

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An Afghan soldier playing cricket. Afghan refugees who lived in Pakistan and India brought the sport back to Afghanistan, and it is now one of the most popular sports in the country.[6]

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] and contributed to an explosion of Indian sports leagues in general.[20][21] 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.[22] Cricket has been suggested by a number of commentators as a possible way to create peace between the two countries.[23][24][8]

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See also

References

Further reading

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