Comments on: Can Basketball Ever Overtake Cricket as India’s Favorite Sport?

By: Sid

Sid — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 13:10:37 +0000

Things are looking up. With the IMG Reliance tie up resulting in Mastan League and the Mahindra NBA Challenge, and an upcoming professional league in the future. Let’s hope the popularity of basketball and cricket in India mirror the size of their respective balls.

http://www.facebook.com/Basketball.India

By: akram

akram — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 10:14:37 +0000

basketball is biased towards tall people.

In my school, the game is played mostly by girls, who cant play real sports like cricket, or even soccer.

Basketball does not have much participation and it appears that only players from USA get to become basketball superstars whereas in cricket, afghanistani players became famous just over a few years despite having no cricket facilities.

basketball is also quite expensive as there is need for some nets…flat land and all. but cricket needs just a bat, a ball and u can play in the streets freely.

I live in bangladesh and there are only 4-5 places where u can play proper basketball.

By: Michael Harroch

Michael Harroch — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:09:08 +0000

Several countries such as France have produced many fine basketball players that have and are currently playing in the NBA (Parker, Noah…). As proud as I am about this, I do not think this is an indication that Basketball will overcome soccer to become the most popular sport in France, nor will it overcome Cricket in India.

However, on this blessed year of the 2010 World Cup, if I were to guess what sport, if any, will overcome cricket in India, I would definitely bet on soccer. Soccer has spread throughout the world at unparalleled speed because it is the most forgiving in terms of equipment and facilities.

Unlike cricket, baseball, basketball, football, rugby, tennis etc., you can play soccer with as little as two players, with a wide variety of balls and you can play it indoors, outdoors, on grass, concrete, sand, wood etc.

By: Kirk Story

Kirk Story — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:46:02 +0000

Basketball in India sounds great. If the sport became super popular, Q sub n would definitely shift to the right to account for all the tattoos required to play basketball. The trash talking would also be interesting with an Indian accent. “Don’t bring that rubbish in my house, brother.”

By: Yuxiang Gao

Yuxiang Gao — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 07:40:45 +0000

well, I don’t think basketball can overtake cricke.I believe cricke in India just like Pingpang in China, even if we were only people who play Pingpang in the world, we still think it is a important game.
Basketball is very popular in Asia, people like it becasue it is very intensive, if sport games are products, cricke and basketball target totally different markets. Basketball is like a moive, people watch it and enjoy the story ; cricke is like a magic show, people watch and wait for something exciting.

By: Matthew Perez

Matthew Perez — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:23:15 +0000

Although it is highly unlikely that basketball will ever overtake cricket in popularity in India, it is possible that basketball can become a more widely played sport than cricket. I am sure that this can happen since it has happened with baseball and football in the United States. As professional sports and American pastimes, baseball and football enjoy a longer and richer history than basketball. More Americans also watch these sports than basketball. However, as a sport participated in, there are more people who play basketball than baseball and football combined. This is likely due to the fact that basketball requires less equipment and space than either sport. Since basketball also has this advantage over cricket, it seems reasonable that basketball could overtake cricket in terms of the number of people who play.

By: Danielle Steussy

Danielle Steussy — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 01:47:07 +0000

No matter the national origin, I always find extraordinarily tall people fascinating. However, it always seems that the taller you are, the more likely you are to end up in some sport in which height matters. It’s sad because there are these giants being forced to play basketball, volleyball, etc. without even considering that they have the skill to match their height. Why aren’t height-challenged people with just as much skill, if not more, not recognized?? Why is there never justice for the short people?!

Personal issues aside, I think it will take more than a couple of seven-foot tall kids to even begin to tackle the popularity that is cricket in India. I’m sure that Hemanth has a pretty strong opinion about this one, but it’s just as likely for badminton to replace football or basketball as the most popular sport in the United States. But hey, I do love badminton. You never know…