Cricket, India's Biggest Religion, Fast Losing Followers

By siliconindia | Tuesday, 21 April 2015, 05:24 Hrs

BANGALORE: Ever since, cricket has been considered as a religion in a country like India and cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar are worshipped as Gods. But, in the past years the television viewership has been decreased from 105 gross rating points (GRPs) in 2008 to 61 GRPs in 2014, reports The Economic Times.

Many big Indian legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid are retired now, while popular Indian cricketers like Sehwag, Yuvraj and Gambhir are rarely seen in the matches. As a result, Indian population is taking less interest in the sport. On the other hand, the new faces in the cricket team are still to win their hearts in big times.

Out of the 1.3 billion population of India, 65 percent is below 35. On an average, the number of hours spent watching cricket was 29 in 2008 to 16 in 2014. The following data has been taken from the major cities of India like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh where cricket fans are more likely to exist.

According to Rohit Gupta, President of Multi Screen Media, the official broadcaster of the Indian Premier League, "One-day internationals (ODI) have taken a beating over the years, people today do not have time to watch a long game -- eight hours is too long now," reports ET.

"The young have many other entertainment options today unlike 10 years back when there was nothing much beyond television. People want shorter-format sports," added Gupta.