Indian cricket underwent a transformation after Kapil Dev led his team to a historic win over the West indies in the third Prudential World Cricket Cup (60 overs match) played at Lord’s on June 25,1983. India announced its arrival as a top team when it won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and for the second time lifted the 2011 Cricket World Cup (ODI); the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, and shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. India has become a major cricketing power and ranked third in the ODI (50 overs) after New Zealand (1st) and Australia (2nd). In the T20(20 overs) category, India is ranked second after England. In the recently held first 5-day ICC World Test Championship final on June 18, India lost the opportunity to be ranked first when it was defeated comprehensively by New Zealand by 8-wickets. The loss at Southampton should open the eyes of all-BCCI, Indian cricket team, government and the people. India is the second most populated nation in the world and also supposedly ranked fifth among the world’s top 25 economies. India has around 130 crore people as against 49.2 lakh people in New Zealand. India has 52 world class cricket grounds while New Zealand has 16 grounds. The GDP of India is $ .2.87 lakh crore while New Zealand’s GDP is $20,692.88 crore. New Zealand has 70 cricket grounds of which 16 are world standard. India has nearly 200 cricket grounds of which 57 are world class. There is absolutely no comparison between New Zealand and India when it comes to money, cricket boards and infrastructures etc. However despite an overwhelming super abundance of cash with BCCI including infrastructures and sponsorship from mega-corporate houses, India has around 6000 registered cricket players under BCCI whereas New Zealand has over 1,60,000 registered cricket players. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which rules Indian cricket is the richest cricket board in the world with a colossal fund of Rs 14,680 crore at the end of financial year 2019-20. On the other hand, New Zealand cricket has around an estimated amount of Rs.4000 crore in cash. Indian cricket has taken the country nowhere despite so much money being spent and earned even if the game is played by hardly a dozen nations. It is a game that is played by about a dozen countries of the world and certainly nowhere even near international games like football, hockey, basketball, volleyball, badminton, tennis etc. Indian cricketers are overpaid, over pampered and the sports is overrated but it has not paid dividends even within the present set up. Like English football, money, marketing and madness (in a good way, passion of it) ensures that Indian cricketers are always in the news. However being in the news and being overrated are two different things. Even in the build up to the test final on June 18 in England, the media in India followed every movement of the country’s ‘pampered’ cricket stars and even their comments which almost claimed they had it all wrapped up. It is time cricket is put in place and its overrated star players who haven’t won any title since 2011, treated equally with other sportspersons who have won India Olympic medals and done the country proud.
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