Cricket in South Asia

The 2023 Cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan.

Cricket is the most popular sport in South Asia, with 90% of the sport's worldwide fans being in the region according to a 2018 market research by the International Cricket Council (ICC).[1]

History

Colonial era

One reason for cricket's initial adoption in South Asia was its similarity to local games, such as gilli-danda (pictured above) and seven stones.[2]
This section is an excerpt from Cricket in India § History.[edit]

Cricket was brought to India in the early 1700s, with the first documented instance of cricket being played in 1721. At the time of its introduction, it served as a medium for Indians to integrate into British cultural norms.[3] By serving as a bridge between the two groups, it facilitated assimilation. During its early years in India, the sport was played by Indian elites to gain favour with the British. This association with the elite increased the sport's value and popularity across the country.[4] Although it began as a foreign sport, the sport ultimately became associated with India and began to play a role in India's identity. In the late 1800s, cricket's image began to shift from being an exclusively upper-class sport as players from lower castes and underprivileged communities began to play and make their mark.[5]

Contemporary era

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

Cricket has helped shape national identities across South Asia,[7] contributing to the self-esteem of peoples throughout the region and creating cultural bonds between them.[8][9][10] The game has played a role in reducing caste discrimination and other social barriers among South Asians.[11][12] Cricket's role in South Asia has often been associated with local geopolitical events; for example, India-Pakistan matches have been affected and even cancelled at times due to tensions between the two countries,[13][14] while the opposing sides in the Sri Lankan Civil War were willing to declare a ceasefire for the duration of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.[15][16]

Cricket started to become the most popular sport in South Asia around the time of India's 1983 Cricket World Cup victory, overtaking the previous local favorite field hockey.[17][18] Further growth happened with the televising of cricket in regional languages.[16] Another major milestone in Indian cricket was the 2007 launch of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which has become one of the wealthiest sports leagues in the world[19] and contributed to an explosion of Indian sports leagues in general.[20][21] These developments have led to South Asia becoming very important in world cricket's decision-making, and being a financially important place for other countries to tour when playing international cricket.[17]

India and Pakistan have a very heated cricket rivalry, with India-Pakistan cricket matches (particularly at global events) being some of the highest-viewed matches in global sport.[22] Cricket has been suggested by a number of commentators as a possible way to create peace between the two countries.[23][24][8]

Cricket leagues

The Indian Premier League is the most popular cricket league in South Asia, followed by the Pakistan Super League and the Bangladesh Premier League.

IPL attendances

The 2025 Indian Premier League average attendance was 35,154. The IPL final took place in front of 90,871 spectators.[25]

#TeamAverage
1Kolkata Knight Riders45,877
2Gujarat Titans43,957
3Chennai Super Kings37,944
4Lucknow Super Giants34,821
5Royal Challengers Bengaluru34,566
6SunRisers Hyderabad33,612
7Mumbai Indians32,988
8Delhi Capitals32,739
9Rajasthan Royals27,651
10Punjab Kings27,384

PSL attendances

The 2025 Pakistan Super League average attendance was 9,331. The PSL season was marked by relatively low crowd turnout at several matches.[26][27][28]

#TeamAverage
1Lahore Qalandars12,478
2Peshawar Zalmi10,312
3Islamabad United9,847
4Multan Sultans9,156
5Quetta Gladiators8,523
6Karachi Kings5,672

BPL attendances

The 2025 Bangladesh Premier League average attendance was 4,964. The BPL season saw a record revenue from ticket sales.[29]

#TeamAverage
1Dhaka Capitals6,243
2Fortune Barishal5,872
3Chittagong Kings5,513
4Rangpur Riders4,827
5Khulna Tigers4,412
6Sylhet Strikers4,098
7Durbar Rajshahi3,784

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Explained snippets: Cricket has 1 billion fans, 90% of them in subcontinent". The Indian Express. 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  2. ↑ Armstrong, Gary; Bates, Crispin (2001). "Selves and others: Reflections on sport in South Asia". Contemporary South Asia. 10 (2): 191–205. doi:10.1080/09584930120083800. hdl:20.500.11820/22dfa8c8-d809-49f6-9a72-07c50ac1130d. ISSN 0958-4935.
  3. ↑ Dominic Malcolm, Globalizing Cricket: Englishness, Empire and Identity (Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2014).
  4. ↑ Miller, Aaron. "NATION AT PLAY: A History of Sport in India." Pacific Affairs 91, no. 2 (06, 2018): 414-415.
  5. ↑ Hillman, Ben. The China Journal, no. 53 (2005): 196–97. https://doi.org/10.2307/20066022.
  6. ↑ "From refugee camps to Kabul: The story of Afghan cricket". BBC News. 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  7. ↑ "The Only Thing That Can Silence Conflict is Cricket".
  8. 1 2 Shafqat, Saad; Bharucha, Nadir (2004-04-03). "Is cricket the magic glue that unites South Asia?". BMJ: British Medical Journal. 328 (7443): 843. doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7443.843. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 383395.
  9. ↑ "The unifying power of South Asian cricket". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  10. ↑ Singh, Madhur (2009-03-20). "After Attacks, Cricket Fights for Life in South Asia". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  11. ↑ "Caste In Sports: Are Dalits Yet To Reach The Top?". Outlook India. 2023-08-18. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
  12. ↑ "How caste, community and religion helped the development of Cricket Culture in India". Sportskeeda.
  13. ↑ Rafiq, Gulshan (2021-03-02). "Cutting Distances with a Cricket Stump". Modern Diplomacy. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  14. ↑ Cricket and international politics Stephen Wagg and Jon Gemmell
  15. ↑ Chakraborty, Roshni (2018). "Cricket, Diplomacy and Nationalism in South Asia". Harvard International Review. 39 (1): 34–36. ISSN 0739-1854. JSTOR 26617319.
  16. 1 2 Kaufman, Jason; Patterson, Orlando (2005). "Cross-National Cultural Diffusion: The Global Spread of Cricket". American Sociological Review. 70 (1): 82–110. doi:10.1177/000312240507000105. ISSN 0003-1224. Televised matches in indigenous languages have also helped build and maintain a wide fan base, as has the transference of regional political tensions onto the wicket—international test matches between India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are, today, rabidly nationalistic events replete with hooliganism, jingoism, and sometimes outright violence (Appardurai 1996; Nandy 2000).
  17. 1 2 Gupta, Amit (2004). "The Globalization of Cricket: The Rise of the Non-West". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 21 (2): 257–276. doi:10.1080/09523360410001681975. ISSN 0952-3367.
  18. ↑ Majumdar, Boria (2023-06-25). "The Day India Cricket Changed". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  19. ↑ Aripaka, Rahul (2023-04-30). "IPL: How India became home to the biggest, baddest cricketing league in the world". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  20. ↑ "The end of cricket's Indian monopoly". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
  21. ↑ "From Handball To Panja, Why Sports Leagues Are Taking Off In India". Forbes India. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
  22. ↑ Mashal, Mujib (2021-10-23). "For India and Pakistan, Cricket Is Never Just a Game". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  23. ↑ "India and Pakistan's Cricket Diplomacy". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  24. ↑ Kugelman, Michael (2024-05-16). "How Cricket Is Easing India-Pakistan Tensions". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2024-05-12.
  25. ↑ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/ipl/top-stories/ipl-2025-final-rcb-vs-pbks-draws-massive-crowd-at-narendra-modi-stadium-in-ahmedabad/articleshow/121602774.cms#:~:text=A%20record%2Dbreaking%20crowd%20of,and%20possibly%20a%20new%20champion.
  26. ↑ https://blazetrends.com/psl-suffers-low-attendance-fewer-fans-than-security-guards-at-karachi-match/
  27. ↑ https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/cricket/2025/05/05/why-is-psl-2025-suffering-from-poor-crowd-turnout/
  28. ↑ https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/1310280-rapid-increase-in-digital-viewing-of-psl-10
  29. ↑ https://www.tbsnews.net/sports/bpl-ticket-sales-soar-11th-edition-nearly-matches-revenue-past-10-seasons-combined-1071156

Further reading

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