Harsha Bhogle The rise of cricket, the rise of India

Five years ago, I wrote a column about the phenomenal appeal of the IPL and its transformation of cricket in a manner inspired by the televised razzle dazzle of American sport.

The IPL can continue as sporting entertainment, good for a fun evening with the kids in front of the idiot box. But what it has revealed to Indians about themselves is far less amusing.

Once again, however, cricket has revived dialogue between the sub continent s two nuclear armed rivals.

The sociologist Ashis Nandy once memorably wrote that cricket is an Indian game accidentally discovered by the British.

The newspapers front pages have had space under massive banner headlines only for a topic normally reserved for the sports pages cricket.

The call for reform in cricket is really a call for reform in the way India goes about its business.

I am happy to inform the honorable members of this House that I have decided to invite President Musharraf to come to India to watch the cricket match between our two teams.

Other countries have followed suit, with tournaments modeled on the IPL springing up throughout the cricketing world.

The paroxysm of media flagellation will soon abate, but the excitement with which the public followed the IPL will not return.

Musharraf did head that way a few months later, when he forced an invitation out of Singh to watch a cricket match between the two sides in New Delhi in 2005.

Be it to watch a cricket match be it do some shopping be it to meet friends and families India is proud to be an open society, an open economy.

To keen observers, the IPL represented more than a sports league it signaled nothing less than the emergence of a new India.

Cricket continues to hold many Indians in thrall, but many others have forsaken it in the wake of the IPL revelations.

Three years later, a Pakistan based terrorist group killed more than 160 people in Mumbai, India s financial capital and, with them, the diplomatic opening initiated by cricket.

Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and his teammates joined an estimated 100 million schoolchildren around the country in lathering up for better health and hygiene as part of the first Global Handwashing Day.

The national captain was revealed to have a conflict of interest, and the son in law of Indian cricket s most powerful official was implicated in an illegal gambling operation run by a sinister network of bookies.

Parks and recreation Parks in Chester Hill include the Terry Lamb Complex, which incorporates Frank Bamfield Oval, and Abbott Park which is home to the Chester Hill Youth Cricket Club and Chester Hill Hornets Junior Rugby League club.

The character flaws laid bare in the IPL must be curbed if India is ever to fulfill its obvious promise and take its place at the front of the world stage in the twenty first century.

The tale of a major global cultural phenomenon Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle describes the spectacular arrival of fast paced 20 20 cricket as it parallels the rise of modern India. He traces the game from its sleepy English roots to the current world of celebrity owners and million dollar player contracts.

At the end of a speech in the Lok Sabah, the lower house of India s parliament, Singh issued his formal invitation. How nice it would be to conduct our affairs in this august House with the same spirit of sportsmanship that our cricketers exhibit on the playing fields of the sub continent, he said.

In Gaelic games, followed mainly by nationalists, the GAA county is Derry , but in sports followed mainly by unionists, clubs tend to avoid the use of Londonderry in favour of more precise locales (Glendermott Cricket Club) or neutral terms (Foyle Hockey Club).

Musharraf did head that way a few months later, when he forced an invitation out of Singh to watch a cricket match between the two sides in New Delhi in 2005. It took the Indian government some time to formulate an answer to Musharraf s request for a visit.