The game of Cricket was brought to India by the Britishers, however a similar game of Gili Dandaa had been played in India for centuries since the time of Krishna. Perhaps this may be the reason why Indian fell in love with the game of Cricket. Today it is one of the most popular sports in India, although the official national sport is Field Hockey.
Why is it called Cricket and how is it played?
Cricket is a bat and a ball game, played between two teams of eleven players each. One team bats, attempting to score runs while the other bowls and fields the ball attempting to restrict the scoring and get the batsman out. The team with the most score wins.
Many think that this is in some way similar to the American sport of baseball. They are very different with similarities of having a bat and ball, pitcher, and batsman, wicket keepers, or in baseball catcher and they both have innings. However the score keeping, the field, positions and other things are not the same.
The Samuel Johnson’s dictionary game it the name of cricket because it was created during the Saxon (Cryce) times.
Cricket in Gujarati news and other media
Today Gujarati news has a sports section that routinely has a piece on Cricket as it is becoming more popular and glamorous.
The new wave of fantasy sports has touched India as well. The birth of ICC fantasy cricket league and the IPL league is beginning to give the sportsmen celebrity statues and the flexibility of having access to watch this sport year around. This has attracted international cricket players to play in these leagues. Gujarat Lions is a team from Gujarat in the IPL league.
Whats more? Some of these Cricket matches are available worldwide because of our digital and technological advances. So if your Indian employee shows up late consistently during the Cricket world cup you know why? He has to stay up at night to watch these matches live!