Identifying the scope of influence of cricket on the Indian Society and examining its advantages or disadvantages

Identifying the scope of influence of cricket

on the Indian Society and examining its

advantages or disadvantages

A Project for Business Research Methods

For: Prof Arun Elias

Ashish Gedam

Section C

PGP/17/137

1

Contents

Title 2

Abstract 2

Keywords 2

Problem Description 3

Problem Structuring 4

Literature Review 6

Research Objectives 10

Research Questions 10

Proposed Research Methodology 11

1) Interviews 11

2) Focus Group Studies 11

3) Surveys and Questionnaires 12

Significance of the Study 13

Bibliography 14

2

Title

Identifying the scope of influence of cricket on the Indian Society and examining its advantages

or disadvantages

Abstract

This paper aims at finding the influences of the sport of cricket on Indian Society. Since the

World Cup win of 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev the popularity of cricket in Indian

society has increased almost exponentially. This also coincides with the demise of the national

sport Indian Hockey. Before 1980s the Indian Subcontinent ruled the turfs of hockey in the

international arena. Many such events gave rose to the impeccable positioning of Indian Cricket

in the minds of the Indian public. In this paper, such various factors are examined and studied.

This paper also aims at studying the advantages and disadvantages of the phenomena of Cricket

taking center stage in the Indian Scenario. The people in favor of Cricket argue that it is this

sport which unifies the whole nation despite the various divisions in the Indian Society based on

Region, Caste, Religion, etc. and breeds a strong sense of nationalism in the minds of the Indian

Public. The ones who are against the sport of Cricket argue that it is due to cricket that other

sports like hockey, tennis, football and badminton are neglected and no encouragement is given

to upliftment of these sports in the country.

Keywords

Cricket, India, Nationalism, Sports

Problem Description

The game of cricket has seeped into the minds and hearts of Indian diaspora. So much so that if a

cricket match is going on, the students miss their schools, the officials start watching cricket

instead of working and all of India comes to a halt. The game of cricket enthuses nationalism in

all Indians. Cricket has evolved from being a five day test match to one day match and then to

the short format of the game, which is the 20-20 format. Cricket, a gentleman’s game, was

introduced by the British in their colonies and this is how India was exposed to this bat and ball

game. Eventually it got so popular that now cricket is hailed as another religion in the country

and the players as Gods.

However this led to some unique problems. Due to the tremendous popularity the sport of cricket

enjoyed, other sports took a backseat in the country. The opportunities, which would have been