By India_Raising - Jan 21, '03
January 21 2003

The 2003 World Cup, less than three weeks away, is working up high enthusiasm amongst cricket fans in India. The already high popularity of the game is being fuelled further by an unprecedented amount of money poured into the game by businesses across the country. Even one of the worst ever cold waves in memory across the country can't keep people indoors and away from discussions, chats, and arguments over the contest. They break out everywhere: the tea-stalls, railway stations, college campuses, offices. In a country where Sachin Tendulkar is better known than Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Virender Sehwag has more fans than even Shahrukh Khan, it is not surprising that the mega-event is taking an early hold on the nation.

A major casualty of WC03 will be the movie industry. With Pongal being the biggest festival in South India, the stars usually plan for a box-office bonanza on the festive public. But not this year. Movies releases featuring the likes of Chiranjeevi, Mammotti, Nagarjuna, Rajini Kanth have all been postponed, fearing empty box-offices. The situation in Bollywood is no different. With most of the Cup matches starting around 3.00 PM IST, audiences for the matinee, evening and night shows are expected to run thin.

Perhaps the worst casualty of the cricket mania will be school work. With end-of-year exams around the corner in March, the students will be caught in a dilemma. Will kids pass up the opportunity to watch their idols Sachin, Sehwag, Sourav, Zaheer, Yuvraj, Srinath in full flow against the best in the world, in an event that comes along only once in 4 years? That is unlikely. This will be a serious concern for anxious parents, especially for those students who will soon be lined up for admission to already competitive universities. College authorities are already discounting for a larger percentage of failures this year, and preparing for a large presence at September exams by those who fail the regular exams.

During the 45-day cricket carnival, lower attendance and productivity in businesses and colleges will be normal. Many employees will take time off after lunch to avoid being caught up in the traffic or missing the all-important first few overs of the Indian batting. Conversations will center on games involving India, and the internet will be surfed to read and talk cricket. Phone lines will go busy with long debates. International telephone carriers will likely see increased revenues from cross-continental exchanges, with the World Cup being beamed to more audiences across the world than ever before. Even the Bombay Stock Exchange will likely see lower volumes, and a number of IPOs have been put off.

People are already offering special pujas (prayers) in holy centers such as Varanasi, Tirupati, and Haridwar for an Indian victory. Two large Tata-Sumo trucks and another big van is criss-crossing the country, covering thousands of miles and collecting written good wishes from the fans everywhere, to hand over to the team before they leave. The corporate world is announcing rewards and incentives that should bring an extra spring to the step of every one of the 15 Indian players who will make the journey to South Africa. With so much public support, the team should be motivated and raring to give their best and bring cheer to the biggest and most loyal audience of the World Cup. The stars are everywhere: on TV and on the hoardings, a glimpse of Sachin here, Dravid there, Sehwag everywhere. National and regional newspapers and magazines already have special sections on WC03 and their readership will increase several-fold during the 45-day period. Low-budget movies produced at short notice with cricket as the central theme will cash in on the fever.

Amidst all the enthusiasm, a dangerous trend is on the rise in some parts. Some people will risk hard-earned money on betting: not the high-stakes gambling involving the rich, but the small-time betting that goes on in villages and small towns. Even people who know little about cricket will put their money on the line for such peripheral things as who will win the toss, how many runs a particular batsman will score, how many runs will India score in first 15 overs, how many wickets will Srinath get. Losing their wages on gambling will sour their experience.

Expats are more likely to spend earnings on buying extravagantly priced pay-per-view packages. While cricket-playing countries such as the UK and Australia offer the games at moderate prices, in the USA the World Cup package is on offer for no less than 300 USD. Nonetheless, a large number of fans plan to buy these packages and watch at least part of the 54 games from the comfort of their home. Those who don't have a satellite dish, or who can find better ways of spending $300, will plan on joining friends. Several cities will have restaurants and clubs showing the games on a big screen. One such place is Austin, Texas, where for $5, one can watch the entire match on a large screen TV, along with a chai and a samosa. Such a deal! The company of others may be the best part.. what could be better than the cheer that goes up when Sehwag smashes his trademark cover drive to the boundary off McGrath, or when a Srinath delivery slices through the gate and uproots Inzamam's middle stump? In the NY and NJ areas, a few movie theaters will screen all or part of the match. To many, watching the WC03 finals on a giant screen will be almost as much fun as being in the stadium.

With that kind of moral support, and playing the best batting lineup in the world and one of its strongest ODI teams ever, can the Indian team possibly fail to bring back the WC03 Cup, exactly 20 years after it last did so?