A Project Report on

EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CRICKET

Submitted By
VEDHIKA NAYAK

For The Degree of

THE MASTER OF SPORTS MANAGEMENT
UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

Under the Guidance of

PROF. VISHNU GOVIND

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPORTS MANAGEMENT

Fleet Building, Marol, Andheri East, Mumbai- 400059

ACADEMIC YEAR 2020-2022

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 EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CRICKET

DECLARATION

I, Vedhika Nayak, studying in the Second year of Master of Sports Management

course in the academic year 2020-2022 at IISM, hereby declare that I have
completed the project titled, “EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CRICKET” as a part of the
course requirements of Master of Sports Management of University of Mumbai.

I further declare that the information presented in this project is true and
original to the best of my knowledge.

Date : 21st May 2022

Place : Mumbai Vedhika Nayak

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EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CRICKET

CERTIFICATE

I, Prof. Vishnu Govind, hereby certify that Vedhika Nayak, studying in the
Second Year of Master of Sports Management course at the IISM, has
completed a project on “EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CRICKET”, under my
guidance in the academic year 2020-2022.

I further declare that the information presented in this project is true and
original to the best of my knowledge.

Date : 21st May 2022 Prof. Vishnu Govind

Place : Mumbai

Institute Seal Mr. Mustafa Sapatwala

Head - Academics

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EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CRICKET

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my gratitude and sincere thanks to my Project

Guide Prof. Vishnu Govind, International Institute of Sports Management,
for instilling confidence in me to carry out this study and extending
valuable guidance and encouragement from time to time, without which
it would not have been possible to undertake and complete this project.

I also wish to extend my appreciation to our Head – Academics

Mr. Mustafa Sapatwala and the Program Coordinator of MSM for their
kind co-ordination and support.

I would like to thank my colleagues for their valuable comments and

suggestions for making this a cherishable experience for me.

I would also like to thank my parents and my friends, who have stood by
me whenever needed, and without whose support this task would not have
been accomplished.

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EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CRICKET

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter No. Particulars Page no.

1 Introduction

1.1 About the topic 6

1.2 Objectives of the study 8

1.3 Methodology 8

2 Background

2.1 History of Indian Cricket 9

2.2 About BCCI 17

2.3 Domestic Cricket in India 21

2.4 Indian Premier League 26

3 Literature Review

3.1 Sponsorship 33

3.2 Broadcasting 40

3.3 Advertisement 46

3.4 Viewership 49

4 Research Design

4.1 Research Methodology 52

4.2 Data Analysis and Interpretation 53

4.3 Findings and Conclusion 67

4.4 Suggestions and Recommendations 72

Annexure 73

Bibliography 75

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CHAPTER 1

1.1- About the topic

The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue,
represents India in men's
international cricket. It is overseen
by the Board of Control for Cricket
in India (BCCI) and is an ICC Full
Member with Test, One Day
International (ODI), and Twenty20
International (T20I) status.

As of 12 May 2022, India are ranked

second in Tests, fourth in ODIs and
first in T20Is by the ICC. However,
that wasn’t always the case. India had to struggle and fight hard for the smallest of victories
and had to wait almost 20 years for its first Test victory.

Before 1947, India had been governed by the British for nearly 200 years. As India emerged
from British dominion, there was one element in common between the two countries: cricket.
The game has existed in India since before independence. From Maharaja Ranjitsinhji, an
Indian who played for England from 1895 to
1902, to the master blaster post-independence, the
game of 'bat and ball' has always held a special
place in the hearts of all people.

In its first fifty years of international cricket, India

didn't gain much success, winning only 35 of the
first 196 Test matches it played. The team,
however, gained strength in the 1970s with the
emergence of players like Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath, Kapil Dev, and the Indian
spin quartet.

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Many outstanding cricketers such as Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, Sourav

Ganguly, Virendra Sehwag, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, and Yuvraj Singh were introduced
after the period and carved out a place for themselves in the world of cricket.

India won the inaugural T20 World Cup which resulted in the creation of the Indian Premier
League. The league has gone on to grow leaps and bounds and is a pioneer in its own right
when it comes to franchise cricket across the cricketing world.

Despite all this, there was

one thing missing: a win in
another World Cup, which
India finally got when they
defeated Sri Lanka by 6
wickets in the final at
Wankhede Stadium in
Mumbai in 2011.

The next era saw quite a

few stars emerge as India
began its journey towards being one of the most fearsome teams, both home as well as
abroad.

From thereon there was no looking back as India have now gone on to become world beaters.

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1.2- Objectives of the study

1) To understand how the Indian cricket team has evolved over the years

2) To understand the potential impact of the IPL on the Indian team, players and fans.

3) To understand the business side of BCCI, the IPL and other aspects of how Indian cricket
has changed over the years.

4) To find out the factors responsible for this growth and how it can be sustained.

1.3- Methodology

This project focuses on every age group starting from people under 20. It covers everyone
starting from students, players, casual as well as die-hard fans. The nature of study in this
project is descriptive study.

The sampling design used in this project is a simple Random sampling method. This type of
sampling method gives equal chance to each member to be selected on a random basis. This
method removes the element of biasness which is one of the major obstacles in a research. It
is considered one of the easiest methods of sampling. The data here was collected using the
method of questionnaire with the help of tools like Google forms. The forms were circulated
to various people of different verticals to understand their perspective towards retirement
planning.

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CHAPTER 2

2.1- History of Indian Cricket

Early history (1700s–1918)

A report produced by English
sailors of the East India Company in
1737 is the earliest known reference
to cricket being played anywhere in
the subcontinent. It relates to a
cricket match held in 1721 in
Cambay, near Baroda. The Calcutta
Cricket and Football Club was
known to exist by 1792, although it might have been started much earlier. After the victorious
British siege and the fall of Tipu Sultan in 1799, another club was created at Seringapatam in
south India.

A match between Madras and Calcutta in 1864 is often regarded as the beginning of Indian
first-class cricket. Indian elites took to the game fast, both with British teams and among
themselves.

The Bombay Presidency Match, which grew into the Bombay Triangular and eventually the
Bombay Quadrangular, was the most prominent fixture in the nineteenth century. The match
was originally played in 1877, and then on a seasonal basis for several years until earning
first-class status in 1892–93.

The first foreign team to tour India was an English squad led by George Vernon in 1889–90,
but none of the matches they played were rated first-class. The Parsees were the first Indian
group to begin playing cricket in 1848. By 1892, they had honed their skills to the point that
they could compete in Presidency matches against Europeans.

In the 1892–93 season, two Europeans vs. Parsees matches were played in Bombay (match
drawn) and Poona, respectively (Parsees won by 3 wickets). Lord Hawke captained an

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English side that played four first-class matches in the same season, including one against
"All India" on January 26–28, 1893.

With the passage of time, other groups began to play cricket as well. In 1907, Hindus began
playing first-class cricket. The competition was renamed the Triangular. In 1912, Muslims
made their debut in first-class cricket. The competition was then known as the Quadrangular
Tournament, and it featured four teams competing against each other: Europeans, Parsees,
Hindus, and Muslims.

Test match status (1918–1970)

Following a meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in July 1934, the
Ranji Trophy was established as India's national
championship, and the tournament began in the 1934–35
season. The Maharajah of Patiala gave the trophy, which
was named after KS Ranjitsinhji ("Ranji"), despite the
fact that he seldom played cricket in the nation. Ranji
passed away on April 2, 1933.
India's cricket history has changed dramatically since
then. In 1926, India was asked to join the Imperial
Cricket Council, and in 1932, they made their Test debut
in England, captained by CK Nayudu, the finest Indian
batsman at the time. Lord's in London hosted the one-off
Test match between the two sides. The team's batting
was not good at this time, and they lost by 158 runs.

In the year 1933, India held its maiden Test series. England was the visiting team at Bombay
and Calcutta for two Tests. The series was won by the visitors 2–0. The Indian squad
improved throughout the 1930s and 1940s, although they did not win an international
tournament during this time. India in the early 1940s didn't play any Test cricket due to the
Second World War.

The Partition of India following complete independence from the British Raj in 1947 was a
crucial and defining event in the history of Indian cricket during this time. The Bombay

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Quadrangular event, which had been a focal point of Indian cricket for nearly 50 years, was
one of the first casualties of change.

Teams based on ethnicity had no place in the new India. As a result, the Ranji Trophy
established itself as the national title. The Hindus won the final Bombay Pentangular, as it
was known, in 1945–46.

In late 1947, the squad played Sir Donald Bradman's Invincibles in its debut series as an
independent country. It was also India's first Test series against a team other than England. In
his final Australian summer, Bradman tormented
the Indian bowlers, winning the five-match series
4–0. In 1948, India hosted its first Test series,
which was against the West Indies rather than
England. The 5-Test series was won by the West
Indies 1–0.

In their 24th match, India defeated England in

Madras for their maiden Test triumph. They went on to win their first Test series against
Pakistan later that year. They improved during the early 1950s, culminating in a series victory
over New Zealand in 1956. They did not win another game for the rest of the decade, losing
to strong Australian and English teams. On August 24, 1959, India was defeated by an
innings in a Test match, completing England's only 5–0 whitewash.

India's status as a squad with a great home record grew throughout the next decade. In 1961–
62, they won their first Test series against England at home, as well as a series against New
Zealand. They drew two series at home, one each against Pakistan and Australia, and another
against England. India also won their first series outside of the subcontinent at this time,
against New Zealand in 1967–68.

Bishen Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar, and Srinivas Venkataraghavan were the
backbone of India's bowling in the 1970s. Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath, two of

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India's greatest batters, rose to

prominence during this time. The spin
four took advantage of the tendency of
Indian pitches to promote spin by
causing breakdowns in rival batting
lineups.

Under the guidance of Ajit Wadekar,

these players were instrumental for
back-to-back series victories in the West Indies and England in 1971. In the West Indian
series, Gavaskar scored 774 runs, while Dilip Sardesai's 112 runs contributed significantly to
their one Test victory.

One-day cricket and ICC Cricket World Cup success (1970–1985)

The introduction of One Day International (ODI) cricket in 1971 gave the game a whole new
dimension. However, India was not regarded as a good
ODI team at the time, and players like Gavaskar were
known for their defensive batting style. In the first two
editions of the Cricket World Cup, India was a poor ODI
squad that failed to advance to the second round. In the
inaugural World Cup in 1975, Gavaskar memorably
blocked his way to 36 not out off 174 balls against
England; India scored just 132 for 3 and lost by 202
runs.

India, on the other hand, produced a quality Test squad, particularly at home, where their mix
of slick batsmen and seductive spinners was at its finest. In the third Test against the West
Indies in Port-of-Spain in 1976, India chased down 403 runs to win, due to 112 from
Viswanath. In November 1976, the team set a new record by declaring 524 for 9 against New
Zealand in Kanpur, with no single batsman scoring a century. There were six fifties, with
Mohinder Amarnath scoring the highest at 70. This was only the eighth time in Test cricket
history when all eleven batters scored in double digits.

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With stroke makers like

Mohammed Azharuddin, Dilip
Vengsarkar, and all-rounders like
Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri, India
evolved a more attack-minded
batting line-up in the 1980s. Due to
a great bowling performance, India
won the Cricket World Cup in
1983, upsetting the favourites and
two-time reigning champions West
Indies in the final at Lord's. Despite
this, the squad struggled in the Test
arena, going without a win for 28 straight Test matches. India won the Asia Cup in 1984 and
the World Cricket Championship in Australia in 1985. Apart from that, India has remained a
poor squad outside of India.

For the following 19 years, India's Test series triumph against England in 1986 was the only
Test series success outside of the subcontinent. Gavaskar and Kapil Dev (India's finest all-
rounder to date) were at the peak of their careers in the 1980s. Gavaskar became the first guy
to surpass 10,000 runs by scoring 34 hundreds in Test cricket. With 434 wickets, Kapil Dev
became the top wicket-taker in Test cricket. During this time, Gavaskar and Kapil alternated
as captains multiple times.

Late 20th century (1985–2000)

In 1989 and 1990, the national
team was bolstered by the
additions of Sachin Tendulkar
and Anil Kumble. Javagal
Srinath, India's quickest bowler
since Amar Singh's debut, made
his debut the following year.
Despite this, India did not win
any of its 33 Tests played outside
of the subcontinent throughout the 1990s, despite winning 17 of its 30 Tests played at home.

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After being ousted in the 1996 Cricket World Cup semifinal on home soil by Sri Lanka, the
squad endured a year of transition, with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, who would
eventually become leaders of the side, making their debuts in the same Test at Lord's.

Tendulkar took over as captain from Azharuddin in late 1996, but following a personal and
team-wide downturn, Tendulkar stepped down and Azharuddin was restored in early 1998.
Tendulkar was the world's leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs after being relieved of
the captaincy, as India won a home Test series against Australia, the world's best-ranked side.

Tendulkar was reassigned as captain after India's failure to reach the quarterfinals of the 1999
Cricket World Cup. He had another bad run, losing 3–0 on a tour to Australia and then 2–0 at
home to South Africa.
Tendulkar resigned and stated
that he would never captain the
squad again. Former captain
Azharuddin and fellow
batsman Ajay Jadeja were
involved in a match-fixing
controversy and given life and
five-year bans respectively, in
2000, after which Ganguly was
named as the new captain.

The BBC termed this time as "Indian cricket's darkest hour." Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble, and
Ganguly, the new core, vowed not to let this happen to them again and to lead Indian cricket
out of its doldrums. And the first three set their own aspirations aside to allow Ganguly to
lead them into a new era.

21st Century
Under Ganguly
Under Sourav Ganguly's captaincy and the direction of John Wright, India's first foreign
coach, the Indian squad improved dramatically. After winning the Test series in 2001, India
kept their unbroken home record against Australia. The series is remembered for the Kolkata
Test match, in which India became only the third side in Test cricket history to win a Test

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match after batting second. Due to Australia's inability to win a Test series in India, skipper
Steve Waugh dubbed the country the "Final Frontier."

The victory over Australia in 2001 was the start of a fantastic run for India under captain
Sourav Ganguly, who won Test
matches in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, the
West Indies, and England. The Natwest
ODI Series final vs England is also
remembered for India's greatest ODI
run chase of 325 runs at Lord's.

India won the ICC Champions Trophy

alongside Sri Lanka in the same year,
and then headed to the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, where they reached the final
but were defeated by Australia. India also played a Test series in Australia, drawing 1–1 with
the world champions, and then won a Test and ODI series in Pakistan in the 2003–04 season.

India's senior players have been out of form and fitness since the 2004 season. A defeat in a
home Test series against Australia was followed by a defeat in a home ODI series against
Pakistan, which was followed by a 1–1 tie in a Test series. Greg Chappell took over as India's
coach, but his tactics were contentious, and he fell out with Ganguly, leading to Rahul
Dravid's appointment as
captain. With the advent of
players like MS Dhoni and
Suresh Raina, as well as the
maturation of Irfan Pathan and
Yuvraj Singh, the team's
fortunes began to turn
around.A thumping home
series victory over Sri Lanka
in 2005 and a drawn series with South Africa put India at second place in the ICC ODI
rankings.

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India won its first Twenty20 international in South Africa in December 2006, making them
the most recent Test side to play Twenty20 cricket. Before the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the
Indian team's ODI fortunes had improved in the first half of 2007. Many experts tipped India
to win the 2007 Cricket World Cup after series triumphs over the West Indies and Sri Lanka,
highlighted by Ganguly's return and Tendulkar's good form, as well as the rise of new players
like Robin Uthappa. India, on the other hand, was eliminated in the second round after losses
to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

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2.2- About BCCI

History
The Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) is India's cricket governing body. It is
an independent organisation that is not
affiliated with the Indian National Sports
Federation. The board was established as a
society in December 1928, under the Tamil
Nadu Societies Registration Act. The BCCI is
an independent organisation that does not
examine any awards or financing from the
Indian Sports Ministry.

It is a federation of state cricket associations, and the state associations nominate their
delegates, who then elect the president of the BCCI. Its headquarters are at Mumbai,
Maharashtra's Wankhede Stadium. Its first president was Grant Govan, and its first secretary
was Anthony de Mello.

India men's national cricket team, India

women's national cricket team, and India
national under-19 cricket team are the three
international cricket teams that represent India
in international cricket. It also oversees the
India A team. The board is in charge of
scheduling and organising matches for these
teams. The BCCI is the richest cricket body in the world, together with Cricket Australia and
the England and Wales Cricket Board, making up the 'Big three' of international cricket.

In 1912, the Maharaja of Patiala financed and captained the first all-India cricket team to tour
England. Two Calcutta Cricket Club delegates travelled to London in 1926 to attend sessions
of the Imperial Cricket Conference, the forerunner to the current International Cricket
Council. Despite the fact that they were not an official representation of Indian cricket, Lord

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Harris, the conference's chairman, permitted them to participate. The MCC decided to send a
team to India, led by Arthur Gilligan, who had previously captained England in the Ashes
series.

Gilligan assured the Maharaja of Patiala and others that if

all the advocates of the game in the country joined
together to form a single controlling body, he would push
for its admittance in the ICC. Delegates from Patiala,
Delhi, United Provinces, Rajputana, Alwar, Bhopal,
Gwalior, Baroda, Kathiawar, Central Provinces, Sindh,
and Punjab were present in a meeting held in Delhi on
November 21, 1927. On the 10th of December 1927, a
unanimous decision was made to constitute a provisional
board of control for cricket in India. The BCCI was
founded in December 1928. R E Grant Govan was elected
as its first president and Anthony de Mello as secretary.

Committee of Administrators
With the growth of cricket in India, the BCCI has been chastised for its monopolistic policies
and has been accused of corruption. On January 30, 2017, the Supreme Court appointed a
four-member team of administrators to oversee the BCCI's administration in order to execute
Lodha Committee reforms. Ex-CAG of India Vinod Rai leads a four-member panel that will
oversee the board's administrative tasks till new elections are scheduled.

On August 9, 2019, the BCCI committed to follow the National Anti-Doping Agency's anti-
doping protocols. The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) of the BCCI has selected Sunil
Joshi, a former Indian cricket team spinner, as Chairman of the national selection panel,
succeeding M.S.K. Prasad.

Finances
Television production
BCCI launched its own production unit in 2012. The BCCI's broadcast service produces
home international matches for the Indian cricket team, as well as major local competitions
like the IPL. Until 2012, the corporation that owns the media rights did the production job for

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BCCI in exchange for money. For some years, Nimbus Sports handled production for the
board. Indian cricket is produced by the BCCI's production house.

BCCI is a private organisation that does not get

funding from the Indian government. India obtained a
26 percent share of the ICC FTP money granted to 10
Test playing nations in 2020, with US$405 million
out of US$1,534 million, while the England and
Wales Cricket Board received US$139 million as the
second largest earner.

After the global economic downturn and most boards'

considerably decreased income as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, the ICC will rejig its
FTP in 2020 to book more bilateral matches between other nations and India.

The BCCI is considered cricket's major financial player. The ICC is primarily controlled by a
board of directors elected by each member board. For high media rights value, every member
board needs bilateral matches with the BCCI. Those boards who work with BCCI get a lot of
bilateral matches, which means a lot of money during bilateral series. They usually
collaborate with the BCCI at the ICC.

Income
The BCCI was expected to earn over INR 3,730 crore (US$535 million) in FY 2019–2020,
including INR 2,500 crore (US$345 million) from the IPL, INR 950 crore (US$139 million)
from bilateral cricket with other countries, and INR 380 crore (US$51 million per year or
total US$405 million for 8 years) from India's share of ICC revenue.

In 2020, as per the present eight-year Future Tours Program (FTP), India receives a total of
US$405 million from ICC, as contrasted with US$139 million to the England and Wales
Cricket Board, while US$128 million for each of Cricket Australia, Cricket South Africa,
Pakistan Cricket Board, New Zealand Cricket, Sri Lanka Cricket, Cricket West Indies and
Bangladesh Cricket Board, and US$94 million for Zimbabwe.

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In 2018 Star India won the BCCI'S exclusive

media rights for the period of 2018-2023. Star
India won the rights to broadcast Indian cricket
team's matches on their TV channels such as Star
Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2 HD etc. and rights to
broadcast on Disney+ Hotstar for 6138.10 crore
rupees.

On average, Star Sports pays 60.1 crore rupees per

match to the board. The deal also includes rights
to broadcast men's domestic tournaments such as
Vijay Hazare trophy, Ranji Trophy, Irani Cup,
Duleep trophy, Mushtaq Ali trophy and women's
international cricket matches in India on Star Sport channel and Disney Plus Hotstar.

From 2018 to 2022, global media rights for the IPL are awarded to Star India for ₹16,347.5
crore (US$2.1 billion). In 2010, the media rights for 25 neutral venue one-day matches to be
played over the next 5 years were awarded to Zee Telefilms for $219.16 million. Star India is
the official broadcaster of BCCI, MPL is kit sponsor, Byju's is team sponsor, Paytm is title
sponsor for all the bilateral series, which take place in India and for domestic championships
such as Ranji trophy, Vijay Hazare trophy, Sayyed Mushtaq Ali trophy, Irani trophy, Duleep
trophy and Deodhar trophy. Paytm won the title sponsorship rights in 326.80 crore rupees for
2019–23. Dream 11, Ambuja and Hyundai are official partners.

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2.3- Domestic Cricket in India

Cricket is by far the most popular sport in India, and it is practised practically everywhere.
The Board of Control for Cricket in
India (BCCI) is the regulatory
organisation of Indian cricket, and it
organises all domestic events as well
as selecting members of the Indian
national side. Cricket is an important
part of Indian culture and top players,
like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli,
MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma enjoy
celebrity status and are some of the most influential figures in the country.

The Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, the
Irani Trophy, and the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy are all domestic championships in India.
The Indian Premier League is a Twenty20 event in which multiple city franchises play in a
format similar to club football. It is one of the largest athletic leagues in the world, as well as
the largest cricketing league.

First Class Competitions

1. Ranji Trophy-
The 'Cricket
Championship of India'
was established in July
1934 at a meeting of the
Board of Control for
Cricket in India. In the
1934–35 season, the
inaugural Ranji Trophy
matches were held. Syed
Mohammed Hadi of
Hyderabad became the

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tournament's first century batsman. H. H. Sir Bhupendra Singh Mahinder Baha-dur,

Maharajah of Patiala, gave the trophy in remembrance of his late Highness Sir
Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji of Nawanagar, fondly known as Ranjitsinhji.

The Ranji Trophy is mostly comprised of teams representing the Indian states. The
number of competing teams has increased over the years. Some states have more than
one cricket team, e.g. Maharashtra and Gujarat. The armed forces are represented by
teams for Railways and Services. The teams were divided into zones – North, West,
East, Central, and South – and the first matches were played in leagues within the
zones. The top two teams from each zone competed in a national knock-out
competition until 1991–92, and subsequently the top three teams in succeeding years.

The zonal system was phased out beginning with the 2002–03 season, and a two-
division format was implemented, with two clubs promoted from the plate league and
two demoted from the elite league. If the knockout matches are not completed, the
first-innings lead is used to determine the winner.

2. Duleep Trophy-
The Duleep Trophy, a first-class competition named after Duleepsinhji, was
established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 1961–62 with the goal of
providing a greater
competitive edge in
domestic cricket, as
the Ranji Trophy,
apart from the knock-
out stages, proved to
be highly predictable,
with Bombay winning
the Ranji Trophy for
fifteen years in a row.

The Duleep Trophy was also designed to aid selectors in evaluating the form of elite
players competing against one another. The original concept had five teams picked
from each of the five zones (North, South, East, West, and Central) who competed in

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a knockout format. The tournament has been modified to a league structure since the
1993–94 season.

3. Irani Trophy-
The Irani Trophy event was created during the 1959–60 season to commemorate the
25th anniversary of the Ranji
Trophy championship and was
named after the late Z. R. Irani,
who was a long-time employee
of the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) and a
passionate supporter of the game.
In 1959–60, the first match was
played between the Ranji Trophy
champions and the Rest of India.
It was played at the end of the season for the first several years.

The BCCI shifted the match to the start of the season after realizing how important it
was. It has typically signaled the start of the new domestic season since 1965–66. The
Irani Trophy game is extremely popular and important. It is one of the few domestic
matches in the country that is closely watched by cricket fans. The game is typically
used as a form of selection trial to choose the Indian squad for international tours.

Limited overs Competitions

1. Deodhar Trophy-
The Deodhar Trophy is an Indian domestic one-day
cricket competition that was first held in 1973–74 by
the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Previously,
five zonal teams competed: North zone, South zone,
East zone, West zone, and Central zone.

It was contested by the champions of the Vijay Hazare

Trophy, India A and India B, from 2015–16 to 2017–

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18. It has featured India A, India B, and India C since 2018–19.

2. NKP Salve Challenger Trophy-

The NKP Salve Challenger Trophy was
established by the Board of Control for Cricket
in India in 1994–95 as the Challenger series,
and was renamed the NKP Salve Challenger
Trophy in 1998–99.

In this competition, three teams competed in a

round robin format: India senior, India A, and
India B. They were later given the names India
Blue, India Red, and India Green. The top 36
players from India competed in the tournament.
The last time it was held was in 2013–14.

3. Vijay Hazare Trophy-

Named after the prolific Indian cricketer Vijay Hazare, the
Trophy was started in 2002–03 as an attempt to bring the
limited-overs game among a greater audience. The
competition involves the state (and other) teams from the
Ranji Trophy battling in a 50-over format. Since its
conception, Tamil Nadu and Mumbai have won the trophy
the most times. It is also dubbed as the Premier Cup by
BCCI.

4. BCCI Corporate Trophy-

In 2009, the BCCI established a 12-team inter-corporate event that included all of
India's top players. The competition consists of 50-over-a-side matches with a prize
pool of Rs 1 crore for the victor and Rs 50 lakh for the runner-up. After a few years, it
was abolished.

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T20 Competitions
1. Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy-
After India joined the ICC
Twenty20 and played its
first international T20
match against South
Africa in 2006–07, the
BCCI established its own
state system, with 27
Ranji teams separated into
five zones. The final was
contested between Punjab
and Tamil Nadu, with the
latter winning by two
wickets with two balls remaining to become the series' lone victor. Rohit Sharma
became the first Indian to score a T20 century for Mumbai against Gujarat in this
series. The IPL, a franchise-based tournament, eventually took its place.

This is the first-of-its-kind zonal T20 championship, and the third overall in the Indian
cricket season, which will see Ranji teams divided into two groups along zonal lines,
with the tournament culminating in an All India T20 final between the winners of the
two groups for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. It was created in response to the IPL's
success and the BCCI's desire to find additional talent in cricket's developing nations.

Youth competitions
1. Vinoo Mankad Trophy-
A trophy tournament for under-19, in memory of famous cricketer Vinoo Mankad.
2. Yagnik Trophy-
A tournament for inter-college, under the university level student, named after Dr.
Yagnik, Gandhian and famous figure in Saurashtra.
3. Cooch Behar Trophy-
An inter-state U-19 4-day matches tournament.

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2.4- Indian Premier League

The Indian Premier Competition (IPL) is a professional men's Twenty20 cricket league
played by 10 clubs from seven
Indian cities and three Indian states.
The BCCI (Board of Control for
Cricket in India) established the
league in 2007. It takes place every
year between March and May and
has a special slot in the ICC Future
Tours Programme.

The IPL is the most popular cricket

league in the world, ranking sixth among all sports leagues in terms of average attendance in
2014. The IPL became the first athletic event to be aired live on YouTube in 2010.

According to Duff & Phelps, the IPL's brand value in 2019 was Rs 47,500 crore (US$6.2
billion). According to the BCCI, the 2015 IPL season contributed US$150 million to the
Indian economy's GDP. With 31.57 million average impressions and a 23 percent increase in
overall consumption over the 2019 season, the 2020 IPL season broke a tremendous viewing
record.

The IPL tournament has seen fourteen seasons with the fifteen currently underway. The
Chennai Super Kings are the current IPL champions, having won the 2021 season. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season's site was changed, and games were held in the United
Arab Emirates.

Background
Zee Entertainment Enterprises funded the
formation of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) in
2007. The Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) and the International Cricket Council
(ICC) did not recognise the ICL, and the BCCI

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was unhappy with its committee members joining the ICL executive board. To discourage
players from entering the ICL, the BCCI boosted prize money in domestic competitions and
enforced lifelong bans on players who joined the ICL, which the board regarded as a
renegade league.

Foundation
The IPL is intended to attract a whole new generation of sports enthusiasts to stadiums
around the country. The exciting Twenty20 format was created to appeal to a younger
audience, which includes women and children

Following India's triumph in the 2007 T20

World Cup, the BCCI launched the Indian
Premier League on September 13, 2007. The
first season was supposed to premiere in
April 2008 in New Delhi, with a "high-
profile event." Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-
president who spearheaded the IPL
campaign, outlined the tournament's concept, prize money, franchise income scheme, and
squad composition restrictions.

The IPL would also be administered by a seven-member governing council made up of

former India players and BCCI executives, with the top two clubs qualifying for the
Champions League Twenty20 the following year. Modi further stressed that the IPL was not
formed as a "knee-jerk reaction" to the ICL, and that they had been working on it for two
years. The format of the league was identical to that of the English Premier League and the
NBA in the United States.

On January 24, 2008, an auction was held to choose the new league's owners, with the total
base values of the clubs being roughly $400 million. The winning bids were announced at the
end of the auction, along with the locations where the teams will be based: Bangalore,
Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mohali, and Mumbai. The franchises were sold
for a total of $723.59 million in the end. In 2008, the Indian Cricket League came to an end.

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Competition format
With 10 clubs, the round-robin system was dropped in favour of two virtual groups of five,
similar to the league phase of the 2011 season. The top four clubs from the league stage will
advance to the playoffs. In the first
Qualifying match, the top two teams
from the league phase will face off,
with the winner moving straight to the
IPL final and the loser earning a
second chance to qualify for the IPL
final by playing the second
Qualifying match. Meanwhile, the
league's third and fourth-place clubs play an eliminator match, with the winner facing the
loser of the first Qualifying match. The winner of the second Qualifying match will move
onto the final to play the winner of the first Qualifying match in the IPL Final match, where
the winner will be crowned the Indian Premier League champions.

Compensation, team composition, and player acquisition

A club can acquire players in one of three ways: through the yearly player auction,
exchanging players with other teams during trade periods, or signing substitutes for players
who are unavailable. Players register for the auction and establish their basic price before
being purchased by the franchise with the highest offer. Replacement signings are available
for players who were not sold during the auction. A player can only be traded with his
permission during the trading windows, with the franchise paying the difference between the
old and new contracts if any.

There are usually three trade windows: one before the auction, one after the auction, and one
after the auction but before the start of the tournament. Replacements can be signed before or
during the event, however players cannot be traded outside of the trading periods or during
the tournament.

The following are some of the squad composition rules

● The squad strength must be between 18 and 25 players, with a maximum of 8
overseas players.
● Salary cap of the entire squad must not exceed ₹90 crore.

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● Under-19 players cannot be picked unless they have previously played first-class or
List A cricket.
● A team can play a maximum of 4 overseas players in their playing eleven.

A player's contract is for

one year, with the option for
the club to extend it for
another one or two years.
Player contracts have been
denominated in Indian
rupees since the 2014
season, when they were
previously denominated in
US dollars. Overseas
players might be paid in
their preferred currency at
the current exchange rate on
the contract due date or the
actual payment date.

Prior to the 2014 season,

Indian local players were
not included in the player
auction pool and may be
picked up by franchises for
a certain fee, with a predetermined cost of ten lakh (US$13,000) to thirty lakh (US$39,000)
taken from the franchise's pay purse for each signing. Following strong pushback from
franchise owners who claimed that wealthier clubs were "luring players with under-the-table
agreements," the IPL opted to include local players in the player auction.

The average IPL wage when pro-rated is US$4.33 million per year, according to a 2015 poll
by Sporting Intelligence and ESPN The Magazine, making it the second richest among all
sports leagues in the world. The weekly IPL earnings are extrapolated pro rata to create an
average yearly income, unlike other sports leagues in which players are contracted by a single

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team for the full year, because the players in the IPL are only paid for the duration of the
competition (less than two months).

Match rules
Earlier, because IPL games use television timeouts, there was no time constraint for teams to
finish their innings. However, if the umpires discovered that teams are abusing this
advantage, a penalty could be issued. During each innings, each side is allotted a two-and-a-
half-minute "strategic break," with the bowling team taking one between the 6th and 9th
overs and the batting team taking one between the 13th and 16th overs.

The Umpire Decision Challenge System has been utilised in all IPL matches from the 2018
season, giving each side two opportunities to review an on-field umpire's decision every
innings.

Prize money
IPL's 2019 season had a total prize pool of 50 crore (equivalent to 53 crore or US$6.9 million
in 2020), with the winning club taking home a total of 20 crore (equivalent to 21 crore or
US$2.8 million in 2020). The first and second place teams were awarded 12.5 crore (US$1.6
million) and 8.75 crore (US$1.1 million), respectively, with the fourth place team receiving
the same amount as the third team. No prize money is given to the other teams. Half of the
prize money must be allocated among the participants, according to IPL regulations.

Awards

● Orange Cap

The Orange Cap is

awarded to the top run-
scorer in the IPL during a
season. It is an ongoing
competition with the leader
wearing the cap throughout
the tournament until the
final game, with the

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EVOLUTION OF INDIAN CRICKET

eventual winner keeping the cap for the season.

● Purple Cap
The Purple Cap is awarded to the top
wicket-taker in the IPL during a
season. It is an ongoing competition
with the leader wearing the cap
throughout the tournament until the
final game, with the eventual winner
keeping the cap for the season.

● Most Valuable Player

The award was called the "man of the tournament" till the 2012 season. The IPL
introduced the Most Valuable Player rating system in 2013, the leader of which would
be named the "Most Valuable Player" at the end of the season.

● Fairplay Award
The Fair Play Award is given after each season to the team with the best record of fair
play. The winner is decided on the basis of the points the umpires give to the teams.
After each match, the two on-field umpires, and the third umpire, scores the
performance of both teams.

● Emerging player award

The award was presented for the
"best under-19 player" in 2008
and "best under-23 player" in
2009 and 2010, being called
"Under-23 Success of the
Tournament". In 2011 and 2012,
the award was known as "Rising
Star of the Year", while, in 2013,
it was called "Best Young Player
of the Season". Since 2014, the
award has been called the Emerging Player of the Year.

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● Most sixes award

The Maximum Sixes Award, currently known as Unacademy Let's Crack It Sixes
Award for sponsorship reasons, is presented to the batsman who hits the most sixes in
a season of the IPL.

IPL Governing Council

The IPL Governing Council is responsible for all the functions of the tournament. The members are:
● Brijesh Patel – Chairman
● Jay Shah – Honorary Secretary
● Arun Singh Dhumal – Honorary Treasurer
● M Khairul Jamal Majumdar – Member
● Pragyan Ojha – ICA representative

● Alka Rehani Bhardwaj – CAG Nominee

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CHAPTER 3

3.1- Sponsorship

Sponsorship is the financial support for a sport (whether this is an event, organisation or
performer) by an outside body (be it a person or organisation) for the mutual benefit of both
parties.

Sponsorship occurs at all levels of sport. School teams may have sponsored kit while elite
athletes may be paid large sums of money to wear certain sportswear or use branded
equipment. Sponsorship can be financial or in-kind payments. Sponsorship means both
parties receive benefits from the agreement.

Benefits for sport

● Individuals – covers costs such as kit, equipment, travel, accommodation,
competition fees, time to train.
● Teams and clubs – subsidises kit, equipment, grounds or clubhouse maintenance.
● Sports – pays for coaching and coach development, beginner programmes, talent
development.
● Events – covers venue hire, catering, hospitality, publicity, programmes, officials’
costs.

Benefits for sponsors

● Raises awareness of their company or brand.
● Advertises products and services.
● Promotes a positive and healthy image of their company by linking it with a
popular activity, even if the product is not particularly healthy.
● Improves the company's reputation because the company is supporting sport.
● Provides rewards or incentives for staff and customers.
● Increases sales or revenue through increased media exposure.
● Reduces tax through tax relief.

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GroupM India’s entertainment, esports and sports division, GroupM ESP released an annual
sports sponsorship report for India for the year 2020 on Monday. This report takes into
consideration – sponsorship spends, celebrity endorsement and media spend on sports
properties.

The size of the Indian Sports Industry has been estimated to be at Rs 5894 Crores. As
expected, IPL is the leading commodity in the Indian sports fraternity. Cricket overall
contributed Rs 5133 crores which works out to a mammoth share of 87%. Other sports
cumulatively contributed to the balance of 13%, which was an amount of Rs 761 crores.
Close to 28 % of the industry share is dominated by Sponsorship Spends including on-ground
sponsorships, Team Sponsorships, and Franchise fees, with an estimated amount of Rs 1673
crores. The athlete endorsement grew by 5 % since 2019 despite the impact of the pandemic.

Sponsorship in Indian Premier League

Over the years, the Indian Premier League has turned out to be one of the biggest T20
extravaganzas across the world that has gone on to attract the attention of innumerable fans.
IPL, which laid its foundation stone in 2008, has always been successful in turning heads in
terms of attracting bids for title sponsorship.

Over the years, several tycoons have come up with hefty amounts to offer BCCI in order to
bag title sponsorship rights. With the inception of IPL in 2008, DLF became the title sponsor
of the cash-rich T20 league and offered Rs 40 crore to the BCCI while holding rights till
2012. With the commencement of the 2013 season, Pepsi joined the party and held rights till
the 2015 season and they sealed the deal at Rs 79.2 crore.

Over the years, as IPL kept growing, the number of fans following the league also kept going
up and it added immensely to the profits. As soon as the year 2016 kicked in, Chinese
business giant Vivo bagged the title rights till 2017 season at Rs 100 crore as per the reports
by News 18. The season 2018 and 2019 of IPL turned out to be revolutionary where the
sponsorship fees skyrocketed like anything and Vivo offered massive Rs 440 crore to the
BCCI.

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The 2020 season of IPL, which was

hosted in the UAE entirely, saw
Dream 11 bagging the sponsorship
rights at Rs 222 Crore which was
significantly less than what Vivo
offered. However, Vivo’s story was
yet not over as they marked their
comeback in the 2021 season of IPL
(at their old fees) which got hosted in
India and UAE jointly.

The BCCI this year will earn little over Rs 1,000 crore from the Indian Premier League
central sponsorships. This will be record sponsorship revenue generated by BCCI till date in
15 seasons of IPL. The BCCI this year has signed a new title sponsor in the form of Tata and
also two new associate sponsors. The IPL GC recently announced new deals with RuPay and
Swiggy Instamart as central sponsors for IPL. The board for the first time has filled all NINE
sponsorship slots for the season, the report said.

The big increase is coming from two sources for the BCCI. First of all the number of
sponsors has increased this year. The IPL GC recently announced new deals with RuPay and
Swiggy Instamart as new central sponsors for IPL. The board now has 9 top brands on board
for IPL and all slots for sponsorships are filled. According to available information, the deal
with RuPay & Swiggy is in a range of Rs 48-50 crore per annum.

The second gain for the BCCI is coming in from the title sponsorship deal. Though the Tata
group is paying Rs 335 crore which is less than what Vivo was paying - but still the BCCI
will earn almost 30-40 per cent more.

The rate card for IPL 2022 is ranged at Rs 2-3 crore for the jersey for smaller teams. For
bigger teams, it is estimated to be around Rs 15-25 crore (the cost of front and back spots on
jersey differs). A spot on the front and back of headgear is ranged between Rs 5 crore and Rs
15 crore.

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Gujarat Titans signed 15 sponsors:

Ather has signed as the principal
partner, BKT, Capri Loans, Jio, Astral
Pipes, Simpolo, Acko, toothsi,
meesho, fancode as associate
sponsors, and Dream11, Boat, Amul
Kool, Kotak and Radio Mirchi as
official partners. The team is expected
to earn upwards of Rs 65 crore.

Lucknow Super Giants has signed up

with brands like My11Circle, Greenply, Jio, Too Yum, Acko, Darwin Platform Group of
Companies, Red Bull, Credenc.com, among others. Meanwhile, among the old teams, Punjab
Kings, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals have onboarded 15-18 sponsors. If we look at the
teams’ FY21 revenue numbers, Chennai Super Kings posted revenue of Rs 254 crore, Delhi
Capitals earned Rs 280 crore, Punjab Kings' revenue stood at Rs 234.93 crore and Mumbai
Indians registered revenue of Rs 336.25 crore.

Several new-age brands too have partnered with teams. Kolkata Knight Riders has roped in
Winzo and Unacademy as its Principal Sponsor this year. Last year it was MPL. The list of
official sponsors has Jio, Lux Cozi, TV9 Bharatvarsh, Joy, Finance, Acko and Wrogn. KKR
also signed some new official partners this year- Munch, LG, Open, Rollick, Thums Up, Mio
Amore and Mc Dowells. It has also continued with Balkrishna Industries Ltd (BKT). Total
number of sponsors is 18 this year.

Mumbai Indians has signed 13 sponsors this year. It has continued with DHL as its principal
sponsor and roped in Slice as a new sponsor. The team's associate partners are Marriott
BonVoy, Jio and Astral Pipes, and official partners are Meesho, Acko, Dairy Milk, Bombay
Shaving Company, Mcdowell's, Amul Kool, ESA, Team Viewer, Strata. The team has also
continued with its old association with Kingfisher, Usha, Dream11, BKT, Performax, DNA
Networks, Radio City 91.1 FM, MY FM and Fever 104 FM.

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Sponsorship in Indian Cricket

From Wills to Sahara India to

Nike. From CK Nayudu to
Kapil Dev to Virat Kohli.
Cricket in India has turned into
a powerhouse of emotions,
fanfare, and money. Replete
with examples, stories, and
emotions, Indian Cricket has
been quite closely associated
with childhood memories for
the 90s kid when Indian cricket was on an upward trajectory. When TV channels apart from
Doordarshan showed the channels and colored TV made it big in every family in India.

As such, the national sentiment around the sport has had tremendous changes and spurts in
the last few decades – most of which relate to growth in the international diaspora as well as
the genesis of the sport as a cultural integrator. However, the sport was mentioned without
the forerunners in the industry – that would include team captains, selectors, and sponsors –
who channeled the sport and the industry in the right direction.

Indian Cricket Team’s Jersey: The Heyday

The Subrato Roy-headed industrial conglomerate, Sahara India Pariwar was the first large
player in the sports industry to have sponsored jerseys. The monetary aspect amounted to
over Rs 3.34 crore per international match, where Sahara India paid the amount to have their
logo displayed on the Team India jersey. The palpable deal by Subrata Roy, perhaps also
catapulted Indian sports into the world of success and glamour.

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Amid rampant fanfare and doles of revenue for the players and the cricket board, Indian
Cricket has made inroads into a league of unattainable financial numbers with multiple
sponsors. Circa 2008, the growth and the uprise in cricket prompted one enthusiastic BCCI
official to propose a league that celebrates and brings international cricket to the largest
cricket audience on the planet. This led to opening up the Indian Sports industry – to
international players and boards no less.

OPPO Digital was the

official sponsor of India’s
National Cricket team. The
Chinese mobile
manufacturing giant
became the official team
sponsor in 2017 when it
signed a bumper deal worth
up to ₹ 1079 crores. Oppo’s
bid was superior to that of
another Chinese manufacturer VIVO (₹ 768 crores). The deal included a sum of ₹ 4.61 crores
per match for bilateral series along with ₹ 1.51 per match for the ICC sponsored events.

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BYJU’S replaced Oppo as the Indian team’s jersey sponsor in September 2019. BYJU’S has
been paying BCCI INR 4.61 crore for a bilateral game and Rs 1.56 for an international game.

Indian Cricket Team Jersey

Although the jerseys kept on
changing over the next few years,
the prominent of them all was the
dark blue one with a splash of
tricolour. Apart from that in 2007,
when it had a sky blue colour, the
Indian national team has stuck
with the dark blue along with
some or the other hint of the
tricolour. After acquiring the
manufacturing rights for the team in 2005, Nike was regularly designing and providing the
new jerseys for the Men in Blue. The last jersey by Nike had a bolder ultramarine blue shade
with the tricolour accent placed near the chest.

MPL Sports, the sports merchandise brand

from Mobile Premier League was named
the official kit sponsor and merchandise
partner of the national men’s and women’s
sides as well as the U-19 team, replacing
Nike. The deal was cleared by the Board
Of Cricket Control In India (BCCI) on
November 2, 2020. Nike had a five-year
deal during which they paid INR 370 Cr
from 2016 to 2020. MPL Sports deal three-
year agreement will be from November
2020 to December 2023.

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3.2- Broadcasting

The broadcasting of sports events, also known as a sportscast, is the live coverage of sports as
a television program, on radio, and other broadcasting media. It usually involves one or more
sports commentators describing events as they happen.

Before sports broadcasting existed, people had to be present at a sporting event to experience
it in any way. If you missed a game or match, you missed it, and there was no way to
experience it after the fact unless somebody related the highlights to you verbally. In our
modern world, where almost anything can become permanent through the use of technology,
this kind of scenario is hard to imagine. But sports broadcasting was developed from verbal
retellings of sporting events, which led to retelling on the radio, and eventually on television,
culminating in the explosion of sports media we experience today.

Broadcasting is a huge part of our lives these days, but few people know exactly how the
process works. Broadcasting, which is defined as distribution of content (audio and video) to
an audience through the means of a mass communication medium, can occur in many
different forms, and is somewhat technically complicated. Most broadcasting mechanisms
use electromagnetic radiation to distribute audio and video information through a
communication medium.

Another term is ‘analog broadcasting.’ In the early days of broadcasting, the distribution of
content was accomplished using analog transmission. Analog transmission involves carrying
audio and video information through one of many kinds of cables, for example a fiber-optic
cable. In the modern era, most sports broadcasting falls under the category of digital
broadcasting, using the methods of digital transmission.

Digital transmission carries audio and video information through a number of different
avenues, including copper wires, wireless channels, and computer buses. Data is received in
the form of electromagnetic signals. A lot of sports broadcasting is also accomplished via
wireless broadcasting, which is a method of data communication that does not involve an
electrical conductor of any kind.

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Influence of TV broadcasting on cricket

It was the beginning of the summer of 1946 in England, and undivided India, under the
captaincy of Iftikhar Ai Khan Pataudi, were all set to take on the mighty English at the Lord’s
Cricket Ground. The BBC TV crew members were running helter-skelter to get the broadcast
infrastructure setup for the match. It was a seminal moment. After a long pause, brought
about due to the Second World War, cricket was all set to resume TV broadcasting. The
jubilation was short-lived though. The video broadcast was allowed only for 3 hours per day
and for only 3 days of the test match.

Even though you could tune into the ABC or BBC radio frequency on and off during the
’60s, and hear the distinct voices of Alan McGillivray and John Arlott, it was only in the
’70s, as a curly-haired David (Sunil Gavasker) started felling the Goliaths from the
Caribbean, that radio commentary took off in India. Soon, nearly everyone had a Remco
transistor, and thanks to Narottam Puri, Lala Amarnath and Sushil Doshi, terms such as
napituli and kahin na kahin entered the collective vocabulary of a nation busy transforming a
sport into a mania.

Far from the expectations, the camera crew was provided access to only broadcast from the
bird’s eye view of the cricket field. Unlike the BBC TV crew members, the cricket governing
body was not enthused at the prospect of TV broadcasting. It was believed that the video
broadcasting might dissuade the fans coming to the stadium and reduce their gate revenues.
Back in India, the cricket fans could hear the match commentary only through All India
Radio (AIR).

By the 1980s, TV had taken over. But it was black-and-white, and unlike now, when over 40

cameras monitor every angle of the playing field, there was just one camera, placed at a 60-

degree angle, and focusing in from wide mid-on. Two of India’s greatest cricketing moments

from its formative years, the first Test win in England and the 1983 World Cup glory, were

witnessed like this.

Despite the cable-television revolution of the early ’90s, people still depended on primetime

highlights to see how a young Tendulkar had coped with the bullies from Australia and South

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Africa. During India’s 1992-93 tour of South Africa, people would wait for the highlights

every evening, hoping that India had played themselves into a good position. Radio was still

big, but television gave a first-hand feel of how events had unfolded.

As the 20th century drew to a close, India became the base of world cricket. Jagmohan
Dalmiya had taken over the reins, Indian brands were sponsoring international teams, and
there were dedicated sports channels broadcasting live cricket from around the globe. One
could hear Bill Lawry welcome spectators to the Gabba and hear of Inzamam-ul-Haque
bashing up a fan in Toronto. But, unlike today, the coverage started with the umpires walking
out, without any lengthy preamble.

Cut to the end of summer of 2021 in England. The mighty Indians, who only recently missed
an opportunity to grab the first edition of the World Test Championship against New
Zealand, took on the English at the Lord’s cricket ground. There were cameras all around the
boundary line, zooming in to cover every angle possible and every action on the cricket field.
The entire match and commentary were relayed live to not just the television sets, but also
through the internet to millions of desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones.

Fans from both sides of the continent compete with their own commentaries and analysis,
flooding the social media with the broadcaster hashtags. At Lord’s, the stadium was jam-
packed with fans from both teams. While the teams were intensely competing on the pitch,
the viewers in the stadium were seen celebrating their togetherness with Mexican Wave
movements.

Evolution of broadcasting in cricket:

Cricket made its first appearance in newspapers in the last decade of the 17th century, but it
was only in the 1920s radio commentary made its beginning. The introduction of ball-by-ball
commentary brought in a new form of storytelling to cricket - the story of a moving ball and
the batsman’s ability to manage its trajectory formed the central theme of cricket
commentary. When the first television broadcasting started, it was no colour, no full match
coverage, no replays, no multiple camera angles, and no highlights. In the early years of TV
broadcasting, cricket was continuously viewed as a competition for attention with the stadium
viewing and so was given lesser preference from the cricketing bodies.

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Back in the 1990s, Doordarshan held the sole broadcasting rights for all the cricket matches
in India. To meet the cost of production, Doordarshan also demanded huge chunks of money
from the BCCI for the live telecast of every cricket match. For the first time in 1993, the
BCCI sold television rights to Trans World International (TWI) for the India-England series
and Doordarshan had to pay them $ 1 million to acquire the telecasting rights.

The Doordarshan did continue to exercise its monopoly even after that series but it did open
up the proverbial floodgates. The agreement with TWI for one single series had earned the
BCCI $ 600,000 and baled them out of a long-term financial crisis. But taking telecast rights
away from Doordarshan subsequently led to a bitter controversy and ended in a long winding
legal battle.

With Dalmiya eager to open up to private broadcasters, the CAB had a broadcasting agreement
with the TWI for the 1993 Hero Cup in return of which the CAB was to receive a guaranteed
sum of $550,000. The Doordarshan in return refused to telecast the matches as they obstinately
declined the possibility of purchasing signals from a foreign organisation.
It wanted exclusive rights for the signals and Rs. 500,000 per match from the CAB as
production fee. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry intervened and gave their verdict
in the favour of Doordarshan but the CAB decided to file a writ petition in the Calcutta High
Court.

For four years from 2000 to 2004, the BCCI now sold its rights to Doordarshan for a sum of
$54 million. The bid for telecasting rights from ESPN in 2004 was $300 million and in 2006,
Sharad Pawar along with Lalit Modi awarded the rights to Nimbus for a staggering $ 549
million (Rs. 2,400 crores). The BCCI was by now one of the richest cricket boards in the
world.

Between the early days and now, cricket broadcasting has seen tremendous changes over the
years. It was with the advent of commercial broadcasting, competitions became a regular
feature in cricketing schedules. In 1968, the BBC introduced colour broadcasting; the dawn
of colour jerseys began with the World Series Cricket introduced by Kerry Packer in 1977.

From around 4 to 5 cameras used in the 1980s, we now see more than 36 cameras for game
coverage. From one end live coverage in the 1980s to stump cameras in the 1990s to Ultra

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motion, Hawk-Eye, 360-degree replays in the 2000s, we have seen numerous changes in the
way cricket is broadcast today.

With more cash flowing in, the game has seen the advent of more technology which has
changed the way we watch cricket. The Hawk eye, for instance, which now monitors the
trajectory of the delivery to ascertain if the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps in case
of lbw appeals, is actually computer generated graphics created with the help of six cameras
placed around the stadium.

The software considers factors like swing, seam, bounce and spin to generate a 3D image of
the trajectory of the ball. Other technologies which have become common nowadays include
the Snickometer, Hot Spot, Umpire Cam, Spider Cam, Slow motion replays, Speed Gun and
stumps with LED bails. All these innovations have undoubtedly enhanced our experience of
watching the game. The broadcast room usually has a wall of television monitors now with
feeds coming in from numerous cameras at the same time. It is in a way the master control
room where the live drama is scripted and controlled for millions of viewers around the world.

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Cricket broadcasting not only immortalised cricketing stars and stories, but also paved the
way for retired cricketers to find careers as commentators, analysers, and story presenters,
across varied television and internet mediums. The role of a video analyst in the modern-day
cricket could not have been envisioned without television broadcasting.

Cricket has evolved through the ages. From the days when crowds used to gather to watch
matches in retail TV shops to watching it solo at the comfort of their device and place, the
evolution even in video broadcasting had been exponential. The unstated goal of broadcasting
has been to provide a cricketing viewing experience that might be of envy even to the
stadium audience. Despite the initial reservations of broadcasting, it had enabled a wider
reach for cricket and brought more people to throng the stadiums as well.

One of the biggest influences of broadcasting is not in the changes it brought, but the connect
it was able to establish for cricket with its audience and their aspirations from the game. With
match broadcasting expected to penetrate into interactive gaming platforms in the near future,
the story of cricket is set to expand further in scope and farther in reach.

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3.3- Advertisement

The evolution of advertising within broadcasting:

If broadcasting is the golden goose of cricket, advertising is the lifeline for TV broadcasting.
In the initial years of broadcasting, advertising was largely restricted to what was seen on the
stadium billboards, trophies, banners, and the intermittent television ADs during the match
breaks.

When broadcasting started to understand the landscape of the viewer’s attention real-estate,
the perimeter boards, sponsor logos in the ground, highlight packages, branded scorecards,
etc., started occupying the screens. To build the association with the brands, the name of the
brand names or their tag lines became adjectives for the branded package. With more
infusion of digital technologies in broadcasting, computer graphics and virtual sponsor boards
allowed for region-based advertising options during live matches.

With more global reach and stronger engagement, especially in the shorter formats of the
game, in-play advertising started to gain traction. Ball speed measurements, boundary
counters, and newer offerings like bat swing metrics provide increased in-play monetisation
capabilities.

On the OTT platforms, user-interest based options are explored by broadcasters for
personalized advertising. From one way communication, these new-age platforms also
provide interactive ADs (Example: A user click on the AD screen can direct to the company
app) for the advertisers. With more smartphone users watching matches on mobile, vertical-
centric match broadcasting and advertisements are in the very near vicinity.

Format became a product:

Between 1877 and 1939, there were a total 99 timeless test matches played – a test match that
was not restricted by the number of days. It was discontinued during the initial years of
broadcasting owing to difficulties in scheduling and commercial arrangements. To enhance
entertainment quotient in the game, Kerry Packer introduced day-night matches, white ball
cricket, colour jersey, multiple camera angles, on-screen graphics, etc., in the international

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arena with the World Series Cricket. Though it lasted only 2 years, it made a lasting
impression on the cricket format.

When the cricketing community pondered on: How to bring the busy parents and 9-5 working
class to engage with the game? The answer turned into a T20 product with a duration of 3
hours – mostly played in the late evenings. How to make cricket even more entertaining and
revive the interest among the youths in England? Bring in a new format with simpler rules -
“The Hundred” on public broadcasting channel, with participation from the best players
across the world. How to sustain the following for Test cricket? Build a world championship
format for Test matches.

Matches became battlegrounds:

Broadcasting works on the incentive of more and deeper. The more the audience, the better
the reach for advertisement; the deeper the connect with the audience, the better is the
monetisation capability. To engage viewers, you need to have strong heroes and a highly
engaging story format. The story of how players overcame the odds, the story of matchups,
the story of resilience, the story of aggression, etc., form the crux of broadcasting narration
today. Naturally, competition came to dominate the format of the game. Matches are now
projected as battlegrounds and players as superhumans fighting to win the games for their
teams and the nations they represent.

Advertisers became sponsors and owners:

Until early 1990s, BCCI used to pay telecast production fee to Doordarshan for broadcasting
matches. When the revenue generating potential of television advertising was understood, the
model quickly reversed. The "ICC Cricket World Cup" as we know today was earlier named
after sponsor brands like Prudential Cup (1975-83), Reliance Cup (1987), Benson & Hedges
World Cup (1992), and Wills World Cup (1996). It was only in 1999, the series came to be
officially known under the cricketing body. Even today, many of the bilateral tournaments
and trophies are played under the official sponsor brand name. Many brands not only use
cricket for sponsorship purposes, but also own teams as in the IPL and other leagues across
the cricket playing nations.

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Technology became fan engagement tools:

If you need to continuously enhance the fan engagement in the game, you need new forms of
storytelling. Data and video analytics provide plenty of story angles for analysis by the
commentators and fans - zones of strength and weakness, player battles, etc., engages the fan
well beyond the actual game. Technology like stump camera with mic helps to capture the
key moments on the pitch. Camera angles through Spidercams and Buggy cams enable
continuous tracking of players and ball movements.

Newer technologies like ball tracking and bat swing analysis enable viewers to dissect the
action behind a cricket shot. Computer graphics, replays, and slow-Mo camera feeds allow
the viewers to etch the moment into their cricketing memory. LED bails provide an extra
entertainment quotient even during a wicket. DRS tech not just enhanced umpiring outcomes,
but also allowed the fans to don the hat of a third umpire.

Fans became contributors of the cricketing story:

With rapid adoption of social media and OTT platforms, cricket fans also moved up the value
chain, from being consumers to contributors of the cricketing story. With cricketers becoming
celebrities, their offline way of conduct also became an integral part of storytelling by fans.
Today, the story of a cricket shot does not end with the commentator’s point of view, nor
within the duration of the game, it organically passes through thousands of analyses from
fans across multiple social platforms. Fans also transform as commentators for fellow
viewers in live OTT platforms and match analysers in social media platforms.

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3.4- Viewership

Cricket has always had a huge commercial pull in India. By 2020, it grabbed an 87% share of
the estimated ₹58.94 billion Indian sports industry. Ever since its introduction well over a
century ago, cricket has come to be much loved amongst all sections of society. The game
has constantly evolved—from the traditional 5-day test match played since 1877, to the
pacier 50-over one-day international (ODIs) started in 1971, to the single innings 20-over
Twenty20 (T20), the newest, shortest and fastest format of the game introduced in 2005.

The main driver behind this evolution is to keep with the mindset of the viewers today and to
see what they are looking for—gripping, intense and action-packed games that do not last an
entire day. Given the high-octane action witnessed in the Twenty20 format, viewership has
attracted many more women and children in India. This was not the case earlier. And that is
why at The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), we are constantly trying to grow
and offer something new that is more interesting for the fans and viewers.

At one point, the Indian professional cricketing sphere was dominated by inter-country
rivalries and tournaments. Unlike other sports, international cricket, be it bilateral or multi-
country tournaments, has always been much more widely played than national, inter-
franchise tournaments. However, by the mid-2000s, the franchise model for cricket proved to
be the way forward. Every sport had it; baseball, football, basketball, or any top sport
globally, franchise format happens everywhere. It was only a matter of time before it would
catch on in India. BCCI started the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 based on the shorter,
edgier and glamorous T20 format, and it took the country by storm. Proclaimed as 33%
cricket, 33% entertainment and 33% business, IPL was a big business and commercial
success and is now the world's most-watched and richest cricket league.

Over the last decade, cricket franchise leagues have come up in many countries—the Indian
Premier League (IPL), Big Bash League, Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Pakistan Super
League (PSL), Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the soon-to-be-launched Hundred, etc.
Each league has had some measure of success, with its attraction, the sponsorship money
partners it has garnered, and the new viewers and fan bases that it has gathered.

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Convergence of Cricket with Real-Time Data Analytics

On the field, each move by a player is analysed and counter-analysed. For example, as soon
as a batsman gets out, the first thing he does is sit with the team's data analyst and trainers to
ponder over his performance and dismissal. Data analysts record not only the whole game but
also extraneous factors which might affect player performance. Attributes of each player, be
it the batsman or a bowler, are broken down and studied individually. Such behavioural deep
dives into the player psyche help identify and plug player vulnerabilities. The captain, the
coaches, and the players all make their strategy based on the available data and opposition
research.

Additionally, many viewers today are literally thinking outside the box. They are engaging
with cricket, and especially the IPL, on mobile and off-the-TV screen. Viewers' interest is
being kept alive by exposing them to the "Netflix approach." Under this, an artificial
intelligence (AI) algorithm suggests clips to view based on a viewer's viewing history. Such
behavioural modelling techniques are breaking down viewer habits into their constituent
attributes, which helps content providers predict viewer choices.

COVID-19 and its Impact on Cricket and the IPL

Unlike working and studying from home, sports cannot be done virtually. Teams have to be
physically present on the ground to play a match, even if it is within an empty stadium. In a
world where people are working from home and have few distractions like movie releases,
social gatherings or dining out, IPL's viewership has shot through the roof! During the
pandemic, cricket has provided the common man with a much-needed distraction. Last year,
IPL viewership was at its highest, and consequently, sponsorship was high as well. The IPL
2020 tournament amassed 400 billion viewing minutes by as many as 405 million viewers. It
surpassed the record held by the ICC World Cup 2019 by 44 billion viewing minutes.

Growth in viewership was also spurred by the broadcast of the tournament in five regional
languages. IPL 2020 also reached out to a wider audience and saw an impressive viewership
growth of 24% among women and 20% among children. It is impressive how the largest
cricket franchise in the world has been pulled off amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially,
there were apprehensions about hosting the series, but once the 13th IPL season started in
United Arab Emirates (UAE), there was a sense of relief. Everyone was sitting at home,
quarantined, but there was something to do every evening when one switched on the TV. In

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the end, IPL 2020 was a success both from a sporting and as well as from a commercial
perspective. The tournament returned to India with the 14th IPL season hosted domestically
in April-May 2021.

COVID-19 has affected the game of cricket and spurred new innovations and ways of hosting
tournaments. The logistics involved to pull off a large event safely is a massive challenge!
For the last two seasons of IPL, bio-secure environments were set up to minimise cross-
infection. Hotels, stadia and practice facilities were divided into zones where in-person
interaction and access were monitored. The movement of sporting and support staff was
monitored using sensors, and frequent COVID testing was the norm.

Bio-bubbles are now a normal environment to be in. With innovative hosting arrangements
and technologies that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be learnings, and
some of the effects will be long-lasting. However, with the second coronavirus wave in India
affecting everyday life on a broad scale, it was always going to be challenging to host a large-
scale tournament. Eventually, with the bio-secure bubble bursting and multiple players and
support staff testing positive, the IPL season 14 was indefinitely suspended on May 4, 2021.
Cricket will not be the same, at least in the near future. A different brand of cricket will be
witnessed in the coming years.

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CHAPTER 4

4.1- Research Methodology

1. Sampling Type:
The research is based on “Random Non-probability sampling” type

2. Sampling Size:
Over 180 people have been considered for the survey.

3. Field Area:
Pan India

4. Duration:
Duration of my project research is 3 weeks

5. Method of Data Collection:

Two methods of data collection have been used: Primary data collection and
Secondary data collection.
● Primary data collection is a method of firsthand data collection. In this
research, data has been collected using questionnaires.
● Secondary data refers to collection of data that has been collected by someone
else as primary data. In this research, data has been collected using internet
articles, reports, jourrnals and research papers etc.

6. Mode of Data Collection:

Structured Questionnaires for cricket players, fans and followers

7. Method of Data Analysis:

Google Form Analysis

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4.2- Data Analysis and Interpretation

1. What is your age?

a. <20
b. 20-40
c. 40+

Analysis-
As we can see in the above figure, out of 182 respondents 54.4% of the respondents belong to
the age group of 20-40 as compared to 31.3% of the respondents who belong to the age group
above 40. The least respondents are from the age group of 20 and below with only 14.3% of
the total respondents.

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1. What was the catalyst for the growth of Indian cricket?

a. World Cup Win
b. Growing dominance at home
c. IPL

Analysis-
While there is no doubt that the Indian team has grown a lot since they started playing, there
are a lot of factors that have contributed to the said growth. The main factor which has stood
out is India’s three World Cup wins- ODI World Cups in 1983 and 2011 and T20 World Cup
in 2007. The other factor is India’s exceptional show in bilateral series, particularly at home.

As per the survey, the Indian Premier League, which is one of the biggest contributors
towards Indian Cricket, is the second best catalyst for the growth of cricket in India. The
World Cup wins as well as the IPL have motivated the youngsters to take up the game which
have led to the development of some of the best quality players.

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2. Has the arrival of multiple formats boosted this growth?

a. Yes
b. No

Analysis-
Earlier, cricket was all about Test matches which were played over a period of 5 days.
Gradually, limited overs games came into existence with ODIs gaining popularity. However,
if there was one complaint about this game was the fact that it was a bit slow as compared to
other sports.

This led to the birth of the shortest format- T20 and it has captured new fans across the world.
T20 has brought in entertainment into the game which has helped more people relate to it and
learn how the game is played.

As per 94% of the respondents, the arrival of multiple factors has played a huge role in the
growth of cricket.

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3. From a fan perspective, which fact is the most indicative of the growth of Indian cricket?
a. India winning overseas
b. Enormous TV rights deals
c. BCCI’s stature in world cricket

Analysis-
Indian cricket has grown in several ways over the last decade and a half. However, the way
one recognises growth is different for people coming from different segments. For players, it
may be better opportunities, for the board it may be an increase in revenue.

For fans it seems the fact indicative of this growth is India winning overseas. For a while
now, India has been winning almost every limited overs series abroad and quite a few Test
series as well. Over 51% of people think that this is the main indication of growth.

BCCI’s stature in world cricket is the next indicator as 30.8% people have voted. BCCI has
gone from being just another board to becoming the most powerful board in the world of
cricket. It would be fair to say that almost half of the cricketing calendar is made keeping
BCCI’s preferences in mind.

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4. Has even the domestic structure evolved over the years?

a. Yes
b. No
c. Yes, but not as much as it should’ve

Analysis-
For cricket at the highest level to grow, there needs to be improvement at the domestic level.
The only way for India to get top class cricketers is if they put in the hard yards at the
domestic level.

56% people are of the opinion that the domestic cricket structure in India has grown a lot
which has enabled India to produce better quality players. However, more than 40% people
think that while there is growth, it hasn’t been upto the mark.

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5. Has the involvement of fans forced the BCCI to keep improving the way the game is
played?
a. Yes
b. No
c. To some extent

Analysis-
There is no question about the fact that in India every move of the players is scrutinized.
Basically, cricket is a religion and every misstep is met with criticism from all corners. In
order to remain in the good graces of people, BCCI has gone the extra mile to ensure that
cricket in India is not stagnant and that the team continues to perform better with every
passing year.

58.2% people think that this is indeed the case and that fans put extra pressure on the board to
ensure players are given the best possible amenities needed to succeed at the highest level.
34.6% people feel that while this is true, it is only to some extent.

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6. From a sporting perspective, what has made Indian cricket better?

a. More skilled bowlers
b. More aggressive captains
c. More dedication to fitness

Analysis-
While there are quite a few things which have made Indian cricket grow and reach the level it
has reached now, from a sporting perspective, the dedication to fitness is what has made
Indian cricket is what 40.7% of respondents think.

More skilled bowlers is a close second with 36.3% people crediting the likes of Jasprit
Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin among others for making the Indian team
better. People have credited aggressive captaincy the least for the growth with only 23%
respondents having the opinion that it wasn’t the most important factor which improved
Indian cricket.

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7. Which of these will help Indian cricket evolve even more in terms of putting up consistent
match winning performances?
a. Consistent performances abroad (esp in Tests)
b. Better display in ICC tournaments

Analysis-
Being stagnant often leads to a decline later on which is why evolution is a must. While there
is no question that this is one of the best Indian teams, if they do not keep evolving, they are
at a risk of taking a turn for the worse.

This question seemed to be the toughest one as people were unable to put a finger on the most
important thing which could help ICT evolve more. It was almost 50-50 with 52% people
wanting India to perform better in ICC tournaments and win a trophy- something which they
haven’t done post 2013.

48% people gave importance to the purest form of the game and wanted India to perform
consistently while travelling abroad for Test matches. While India has won 2 back-to-back
Test series in Australia and are on the verge of winning one in England, they disappointed in
South Africa twice in a row.

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8. Has IPL impacted the intensity with which the players compete in international cricket?
a. Yes
b. No

Analysis-
IPL has impacted the intensity of cricket in quite a few ways. While players are able to
compete with more intensity because of their time in IPL, there have also been cases where
the intensity has fallen off because of a player’s relation with the other team.

Because of the IPL, every player, no matter from what country, has the opportunity to know
each other and become friends. While there is no harm in it, what it has done is it has made
the players take a step back when it comes to banter or sledging the opposition.

83% people feel that IPL has definitely affected the intensity with which players compete at
the international level while 17% people think that it is not the case.

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9. Will it be better for Indian Test cricket if the team plays just the top 4 sides rather than all
teams?
a. Yes
b. No

Analysis-
Former India captain Virat Kohli had first suggested that India should be playing Tests in just
the top venues so that Test cricket does not die in India. This statement gave rise to similar
discussions about the revival of Test cricket.

A version of it is would it be better for India if they play only the top 4 Test playing nations
so as to improve the standard of the game played because otherwise, the games become quite
one sided.

67.6% of respondents think that it should be the way forward to ensure that the dwindling
interest in Test cricket does not die down in India.

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10. What lesson should other sports bodies take from BCCI?
a. Professional administration
b. Robust domestic structure
c. Marketing
d. Safeguarding interests of players

Analysis-
BCCI is undoubtedly the most successful sports body in India. It does not take any grants
from the Sports Ministry of India and is self sufficient. However, it did not achieve this
success overnight and had to work on a lot of things to get to where it is today.

When asked what other sports bodies should learn from the BCCI, 29.1% people were tied on
Robust domestic structure and Professional administration. Next came the fact about how
BCCI safeguards the interest of its players which in turn makes it one of the best boards in
India.

19.8% respondents felt that the way BCCI markets itself is the main lesson other sports
bodies should inculcate from the BCCI.

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11. Will a bigger window for IPL hamper Indian cricket?

a. Yes
b. No
c. Maybe

Analysis-
With the addition of two new teams in IPL, the league is bound to be played for more days
from the upcoming season. This will mean that the window for IPL will be extended at the
expense of international cricket.

44.5% people feel that if more days are invested in the IPL, it will hamper Indian cricket
because of lack of game time when it comes to longer formats of the game. 31.3% people
were unsure of what a bigger window would mean for Indian cricket.

However, 24.2% respondents didn’t think IPL will be a threat for Indian cricket and that it
may end up being a good thing for ICT.

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12. Is the current Indian team on par with the West Indies and Australian teams of the past?
a. On par
b. Way behind them
c. Indecisive

Analysis-
When India put up a fight in South Africa and England and followed it up with a series win in
Australia, talks started to go around about this Indian team being on par with the great West
Indies and Australian teams of the past era.

However, after a bit of a slump in their performance, there have been certain questions raised
about the truth in this statement. People are still divided when it comes to this question as can
be seen in the graph above.

44.5% are of the opinion that the Indian team doesn’t match up to those great teams of the
past while 41.2% think that they are on par. A small segment of people (14.3%) are
indecisive.

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13. Has IPL become more about business than about the actual sport?
a. Yes
b. No

Analysis-
When IPL first began, it was to ensure more people are drawn towards the game and to
ensure ‘Talent meets opportunity’. In the earlier years, IPL played the role of recruiting
potential youngsters and making them world class players.

However, it has now gone on to become a money minting machine and while there is no
doubt that it still promotes and develops good players, it has now become more about
business is what 83.5% people think. The exorbitant auction price, the broadcasting revenue,
money generated from ads have meant that IPL has to some extent gone beyond being just a
league to becoming a business.

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4.3- Findings and Conclusion

In India, cricket is a religion. How many times have we heard or read something similar in
the news? Despite the fact that hockey is India's national sport, the Indian people prefer
cricket. People treat this game as if it were a religion. People in India may not be aware of the
captain of the Indian hockey team, but they are aware of cricketers who are playing in
national colours for the first time.
Corporations, politicians, and even the
media all want to be linked with cricket
in some way. Cricket hasn't always been
like this. Cricket used to be a game
reserved for the royals and the wealthy,
with the average man having no or
limited access.

Cricket was first played in India by the

British in 1791. It wasn't until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that it became
increasingly popular. India was one of the few countries granted the privilege to play
international cricket in 1932. The game was seen by a large number of people, including the
then-king of England. India, like other countries, became a regular in international cricket,
although it was still a below-average cricketing nation.

Many individuals were now following it, although it received relatively little media attention.
This might have been attributed to the Indian cricket team's poor performance at the time.
This might also be due to the fact that Indian hockey was at its peak at the time, winning
medal after medal in Olympics and other international competitions.

A startling change of events occurred in 1983, when India won the World Cup. They
accomplished this by defeating the West Indies in the finals. The Indian cricket squad was
greeted as heroes. They had become the new buzz of town. Everyone wanted to see them,
discuss them, and learn more about them. Around the same time, television began to make its
way into the homes of Indians. This was the first opportunity for the media, however
restricted in scope, to bring these players closer to Indian viewers and supporters.

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This was to open up a world of limitless possibilities that would benefit both sides. This was
the first time that Indian cricketers began to profit from endorsements and sponsorship
arrangements. Sunil Gavaskar was the one who initiated this trend. However, the media had a
significant role to play. The coverage of these cricketers' exploits in newspapers, television
news (primarily Doordarshan), and radio contributed significantly to their popularity.

In the 1990s, two other innovations occurred that

were going to transform both cricket and the media.
The introduction of cable television was going to
revolutionise how Indian viewers saw news and
entertainment. Sachin Tendulkar's emergence was
also a phenomena that ushered in an era of limitless
money in cricket, with sportsmen becoming more
wealthy from sponsorship agreements and
endorsements. Sachin Tendulkar was recruited by
Worldtel for INR 30 crore in 1995, and players never
looked back after that.

With the introduction of 24-hour news networks, entertainment and news began to merge.
The media became overly engaged in cricketers' lives, with everything they did in the
spotlight. The media gave all the public wanted to know about their favourite cricketer. When
cricketers did well, they were idolised, and when they failed, their fall was much more
spectacular.

India’s three World Cup wins- two ODI cups in 1983 and 2011 and one T20 cup in 2007 led
to people following the Indian team with much excitement. Irrespective of where the matches
were, irrespective of what time it was and irrespective of the weather conditions, Indian fans
flocked the stadiums to support their favourite Men in Blue. This led to an unprecedented
growth in the performance of players which in turn made them invincible atleast at home.

So many great captains have gone on record to say that India is the final frontier and that
beating India in India is a task which is next to impossible. Be it England or Australia or
West Indies or Sri Lanka, India was always up to the task with billions of fans having their
back day in and day out.

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With such following, BCCI raked in a lot of money and with the advent of T20 format,
started probably the best league in the world- the IPL. The IPL was supposed to be the
factory which turned rookies into world class players who could take on the best in the world
without batting an eyelid. It was
supposed to be a platform which
brought the best overseas players from
across the world in a room with the
young Indian players and showed
them the ropes.

What the IPL did was that and so

much more. Not only did it
accomplish the above mentioned
things, it injected money into Indian
cricket which helped India become one of the best, if not the best teams in the current era. No
longer were the Indians intimidated by the mighty Australians or by the skilful Englishmen.
The IPL bridged the gap between the players of different nations and enabled the players to
be the best versions of themselves.

While India always boasted of some of the best spinners in the world, they lacked quality
pacers which hampered their performances in overseas conditions. There is no point in batters
scoring 400-500 runs if there
aren’t quality bowlers who
can defend it or bowl the
opposition out. However, the
beginning of the last decade
saw things starting to take a
turn for the better.

India always had pacers like

Javagal Srinath or Zaheer
Khan. However, what they
lacked was a team. A team of
bowlers who hunted together. A team of bowlers who the opposition feared and who

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relentlessly applied pressure no matter who the opposition was or no matter where they were
playing.

Today, India has not one or two but a bunch of pacers who are ready and raring to go
whenever opportunity presents itself. Ishant Sharma has been around since forever but he has
been joined by Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav to name
a few. These players are a menace and a force to reckon with irrespective of the conditions.

Fitness has also played a key role in developing these players. Gone are the days where
players would tire early and look lackluster by the end of the day. Gone are the days where
fielders didn’t dive around to stop the ball. This change in fitness and the fitness culture
which is seen in Indian cricket has been brought by the former Indian captain Virat Kohli and
the results are visible every time India gets on the field.

If there is one thing which really shows how much Indian cricket has grown and evolved it is
India’s back to back wins in Australia. In 2018, India went down under on the back of defeats
in South Africa and
England. In general,
Australia was supposed to
be the toughest of all. India
defeated them 2-1 to win
their first test series in
Australia after 70 years.

However, Australia wasn’t

at their very best at that
time, missing two key
players. So while India did win because of their abilities, naysayers put it down to India
winning against a weaker opposition.

Two years later, India went to Australia again. This time, Australia were at full strength while
India weren’t. Quite a lot of players got injured, captain Kohli left for paternity leave and just
2 players- Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara played the whole series. Things had gotten

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so out of hand for India that in the last match, their senior most bowler was Mohammed Siraj,
a man who had played just 2 matches prior to that Test.

India were in Australia’s fortress, The

Gabba. They hadn’t lost a game there in
30+ years and with the Indian team
almost dead and buried, nobody gave
them a chance to win the series.
However, it wasn’t an Indian team of
the past. It was an evolved, developed
and a fully conditioned Indian team
which stepped onto the field. They did
the unthinkable- defeat Australia at the Gabba, win a Test series in Australia twice in a row
without all their key players.

Like the survey above shows, if there is something which India need to work on, it is winning
ICC tournaments and performing more consistently in overseas conditions. However, while
the Indian team may not be on par with the great AUS and WI teams of the past, they’re
surely way ahead of the Indian teams of the past which is the best parameter to prove the
evolution of Indian cricket.

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4.4- Suggestions and Recommendations

While BCCI has hardly taken a step in the wrong direction, if there are some suggestions and
recommendations, it is that the board should look to revive Test cricket by looking to play
against the top 4 nations only which will improve the quality of the game being played.

The only way people get engaged in a game is if it is interesting and thrilling and there is an
even contest. The only way to achieve that is to play teams which are on par with ICT
otherwise it becomes a one-sided affair which is ultimately boring to watch for a general fan.

Another aspect which the survey points out is the IPL window which seems to be increasing
from next season. If cricket goes the football way and prioritizes club cricket over
international games, it could see Indian cricket start to decline as players would more often
than not prioritize the cash rich league over other commitments.

While there is no doubt that fans follow IPL with great enthusiasm, for a true fan cricket in
India is more about players donning the blue jersey and guiding Team India towards victory.
Without that, cricket will become just another sport which is played for entertainment and not
to achieve laurels for the country- a thing which die-hard fans live for.

One should also not take anything away from other domestic tournaments who have helped
players go through the grind and taken their performance up by several notches while
operating in the shadows. However, having said all this, IPL has been one of the key factors
which has led to India getting to the stage that it has and words alone cannot justify its
importance in the evolution of Indian cricket.

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ANNEXURES

Survey Questionnaire

1. What was the catalyst for the growth of Indian cricket?

a. World Cup win
b. Growing dominance at home
c. IPL

2. Has the arrival of multiple formats boosted this growth?

a. Yes
b. No

3. From a fan perspective, which fact is the most indicative of the growth of Indian cricket?
a. India winning overseas
b. Enormous TV rights deals
c. BCCI’s stature in world cricket

4. Has even the domestic cricket structure evolved over the years?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Yes, but not as much as it should’ve

5. Has the involvement of fans forced the BCCI to keep improving the way the game is
played?
a. Yes
b. No
c. To some extent

6. From a sporting perspective, what has made Indian cricket better?

a. More skilled bowlers
b. More aggressive captains
c. More dedication to fitness

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7. Which of these will help Indian cricket evolve even more in terms of putting up consistent
match winning performances?
a. Consistent performances abroad (esp in Tests)
b. Better display in ICC tournaments

8. Has IPL impacted the intensity with which the players compete in international cricket?
a. Yes
b. No

9. Will it be better for Indian Test cricket if the team plays just the top 4 sides rather than all
teams?
a. Yes
b. No

10. What lesson should other sports bodies take from BCCI?
a. Professional administration
b. Robust domestic structure
c. Marketing
d. Safeguarding interests of players

11. Will a bigger window for IPL hamper Indian cricket?

a. Yes
b. No

12. Is the current Indian team on par with the WI and AUS teams of the past?
a. On par
b. Way behind them
c. Indecisive

13. Has IPL become more about business than about the actual sport?
a. Yes
b. No

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Bibliography

1. How has cricket evolved in India over the years - Nagpur Today
2. History of Cricket in India
3. Indian Premier League
4. India national cricket team
5. How the Indian Premier League Reinvented the Cricket League
6. History of cricket in India to 1918
7. History of cricket in India from 1918–19 to 1945
8. IPL: Birth of Cricketainment: A Case Study on Sports Marketing by Board of Control
for Cricket in India
9. Irani Cup
10. Cricket in India
11. Board of Control for Cricket in India
12. IPL Title Sponsors Fees Over the Years (2008 to 2022)
13. Sponsorship in sport - Commercialisation in sport
14. For the first time in 15 years, IPL sponsorships cross Rs 1,000 crore
15. Cricket continues to dominate sports sponsorship in India | SportsMint Media
16. Sports Broadcasting: Sports in the Media
17. How TV Broadcasting Influenced Cricket?
18. The Evolving Face of Cricket, Braving One Challenge at a Time - articles

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