IPL 2023: A world of controversies, India still manages to come together for cricket

India is diverse in every way, except when it comes to cricket. We are truly a nation of cricket lovers and this is never more evident than the last week of May 2023 which saw some of the biggest controversies like wrestling protests, inauguration of the new Parliament building, actors being called in to speak in support. Not the government and the protesters. On the other hand, the finale of IPL 2023 season was also getting different in a few days. As Twitter continued to rage against each other and call out celebrities, people were also celebrating MS Dhoni’s win over Chennai Super Kings.

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The game probably originated in England during the Saxon or Norman period around 1000 AD, it was brought to India by the English through the East India Company when it landed in Surat in 1721. , It is not just a game but a feeling which may well overpower other good bad and everything else. While the first Indians who started playing the game were soldiers of the British Army, who played matches with their British superiors. The citizens who started playing cricket were from the Paris community who also started their own club in 1848.

Indian historian Ramachandra Guha claimed that “the institutions that hold us together are the bequests of the British: the civil service, the army, the railways and cricket” and that pre-industrial sport served as a “criticism of urban industrial society”. does. It did not take long for others to opt for the game as it could be played with more people and did not require as many supplies. ,

Finally, in 1991, India’s first cricket team was launched and the national identity goes back to 1947 when the first Test match of independent India was used to advertise a young and new India. The game not only witnessed the citizens but also gave them a chance to hope and dream to be a part of the nation. The love for the game continued to grow and became part of the nation’s identity as the 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup was played on 25 June at Lord’s, London. India, a third world country, a former colony of Britain, won the title of champions in that match, and the national identity of the game engraved in the hearts of all its citizens.

As much as cricket is the best time pass for Indians, the success of the game has proved positive for the nation in the most dire of circumstances. In 2002, after the riots in Gujarat, the youth of the state had witnessed a huge divide between the two religions which worried everyone. To counter the same an initiative was taken by a civil society group called Yuva Shakti with a team to promote a cricket tournament which had equal participants from both the communities. The competition witnessed huge success for more than a year and helped the state to nurture a supportive and positive environment.

However, the widespread popularity of the game also came from some deeper reasons such as the gambling sector. In modern years with no access to TV, radio, or the internet, cricket has become an easy way to earn money. According to the Doha-based International Center for Sports Security, the illegal betting market in the country was once worth $150 billion and Rs 9.9 lakh crore. It also included bets of $200 million on every One Day International match played by the Indian cricket team. In the 2000s there were major scandals in underground cricket betting with arrests of players in cricket’s IPL.

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Similar to betting, more multinational companies and other organizations see sports as a way to promote their voices, brands, and more. Along with taking the championship from Test matches and ODIs to T20 and now the IPL around the world and helping to develop the idea of ​​cricket into what it is today. With or without geopolitics, the spirit of nationalism continues to fuel the love of cricket in India.