TO OUTSIDERS, the magnitude of Indians’ love for cricket is as incomprehensible as its feverish intensity. On February 4th India awarded the Bharat Ratna, its highest civilian honour, to Sachin Tendulkar, a recently retired batsman. Millions in India, a country of 1.3 billion people and only one nationally-popular game, celebrated wildly. When India’s national side plays a big game, an estimated 400m watch on television. Yet cricket’s take-off in India is a highly improbable development. The game is demanding to play properly, requiring space, a good turf pitch and expensive equipment—which only a relative handful of Indian cricketers have access to. Most will never strap on pads or bowl with a leather ball. So why do they so love the game?

Tags: sport, popular culture, culture, development, India, South Asia, globalization, empire.

Source: www.economist.com