The enthusiasm of Indian cricket fans

I knew cricket was big in India but I didn’t realise how big. Over the last few years, whilst I’ve been watching cricket and more recently blogging about it, I’ve started to appreciate what cricket means in India.

I have witnessed the overwhelming enthusiasm of the Indian cricket fans and their true love for the game. It has been astonishing how they almost worship their international players but also players from around the world. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of watching India face Sussex at Hove and to be honest, there were so many Indian fans there and they certainly dominated the Sussex fans in the sound department.

I distinctively remember when one of the Indian players was fielding near the boundary and hundreds of young Indian fans all raced towards him to try and get an autograph. They shouted for him and some even shouted stuff like ‘we love you’. Now this may be taking it too far but it shows you the extent of their passion for the sport.

Furthermore, I have also had the joy of watching India face England at Lord’s and again there were many Indian fans, and for the majority of the day, the Indian fans completely outdid the England fans in cheering and making noise. (It probably helped that India were on top for the day, well until Prior got a hundred, but still).

More recently, well since I began this blog; I have experienced the true passion and enthusiasm of the Indian fans through the wonderful ‘little’ world of the Internet and in particular Facebook. On Facebook, I have joined several cricket groups in order to keep updated with the whole of the cricketing world, because, let’s be honest, with the amount of cricket that is played nowadays, it’s hard to keep a track of it all by yourself. (I may also have joined them to promote my blog but sssh – it’s not like I beg for views.)

One of the groups that have really stood out for me is ‘No Life Without Cricket’. Now the name gives a pretty good impression of their thoughts on cricket. The group page is always full of pictures, scores, debates and just people sharing their love of the game. One fan on Facebook even told me that in India, people would kill for a ticket to watch India play, over here in (for the moment) sunny England, there are people who would most likely kill so that they don’t have to go and watch a cricket match.

So yeah, that’s all I wanted to say really, just wow and well done to the Indian cricket fans for their outstanding love, passion and knowledge and also thanks for reading my blog and giving me feedback – I really appreciate it!