by Promod Puri
Perhaps the largest group of spectators intensely following the kicks and scores of the World Cup matches is the huge football-loving population in India.
Yet there is no team from a nation of over 1.47 billion people, with a predominantly young population in the 20-24 age group. (Copilot Search.)
They are the adoring fans of Messi, Ronaldo, and Mbappe, taking photos with their cutouts while following and cheering on underdog competitors, especially from poor and small countries, watching their skills in the world’s most popular and most played sport, football.
One such team is the island nation of Curacao in the southeastern Caribbean Sea, the smallest nation and not that rich, ever to reach the World Cup.
The imminent question arises: if a tiny nation of Curaçao can make it to the World Cup stage, why can’t India?
Well, I absolutely refute the notion of tying up population with the production of world-class sports teams. Rather, it is the involvement, enthusiasm, and passion for a particular sport, along with adequate government financial backing and supportive media, that produce quality players who compete in international competitions.
Football seems to have lost that backing and significance in terms of its play.
There was a time when, besides field hockey, football was more widespread and favoured than cricket. I remember back in the 50s, when Mohun Bagan from Bengal dominated the Indian football scene, playing matches across the country for the Santosh Trophy.
But now, that football excitement has shifted to cricket over the last few decades.
And that reveals the real reason, not the country’s huge population, for the sharp fall in the game of football.
Young people love to watch the thrill of world football matches but seldom take up the sport themselves; instead, they opt for the slow-paced game of cricket.
Over the past few decades, cricket has tightened its grip on India’s sports scene to such an extent that other equally deserving sports have been elbowed out, reduced to mere afterthoughts.
What was once an elite pastime introduced by the British has grown into a national obsession. And this obsession comes at a cost.
Cricket is an expensive indulgence.
For millions of poor young people across India, cricket is more of a spectator’s dream than a real avenue for participation. While they watch the game with passion, becoming part of it remains a distant aspiration.
Cricket’s infrastructure, including coaching academies, stadiums, and equipment, is concentrated mainly in urban areas, leaving rural and underprivileged young people sidelined.
The result? Other sports, such as football and field hockey, have been relegated to the bench, gasping for attention.
Hockey, once India’s pride with multiple Olympic gold medals, now struggles to find sponsors, media coverage, or even audiences.
Football, which commands cult followings in regions like Kerala, Goa, and West Bengal, lacks the financial muscle and glamour that cricket enjoys.
Fueled by non-stop media coverage and corporate sponsorships, the hype machine surrounding cricket has built a monopoly that crowds out every other sport.
This skewed focus not only drains resources from other sporting disciplines but also limits India’s chances of producing world-class athletes in those fields.
Cricket’s glamour has grown to almost Bollywood proportions, with players becoming national heroes and fixtures in commercials.
Yet, as cricket monopolizes the spotlight, the bigger question arises: can India become a multi-sport nation, or at least football?
Will the cricket hype continue to choke the growth of other games, burying their potential under its overwhelming shadow?
It’s time India diversifies its sporting ambitions. Every corner of the nation harbours untapped talent, particularly on football fields. A broader vision for sports, with balanced investments and media attention, could make India a true football powerhouse.
Cricket is an expensive outdoor indulgence that the vast majority of the country’s poor youth can only watch enviously; they cannot actively participate in this “gentleman’s game.”
Compared to that, the “common man’s game” of football, undoubtedly the most popular of all the world’s sports, is dirt cheap.
The total cost for all the equipment, bats, balls, wickets, and protective gear runs into thousands in cricket.
Not only that, in cricket, of all the 22 players comprising the two opposing teams, just three players, two batsmen and a bowler, actively play the game at a given time.
The remaining 10 players supporting the bowler are fielders; I call them waiters, who wait for the ball when it is delivered in their direction.
Still, the nine players from the batting side are sitting idle, waiting for their turns to bat, which may only come for some.
Is it a good use of time and money to be in the game but not play it?
Compared to that, the “common man’s game” of football, undoubtedly the most popular of all the world’s sports, is dirt cheap.
One ball, and that is it.
Twenty-two players are vigorously involved in the play throughout, running, jumping, hitting, and bouncing, maintaining an action-packed, meditative focus on the ball. Full value!
Indeed, it won’t be a source of remorse to see cricket fall from its hype amid the rising popularity of football worldwide. That would involve every section of India’s youth, from urban to rural, rich and poor, in their much-needed physical activities.
It is about time for India to kick off the exciting play of football in the sparse spaces of the cities, to the dusty grounds of the countryside, and tap its talent so that a proud national team marches into the 2030 World Cup.
Promod Puri.com 