Why Cricket's Popularity Continues to Inch Closer to Football

As the world's attention turns towards the FIFA World Cup, Indians (and Indian football fans in particular) are largely left asking the familiar questions. What should we do to improve football in our home soil? On our leagues? How do we become a part of this event?

The comparison with Canada comes into equation and it's striking to note that in 2017, Canada ranked 126th in World Football, while India was at 117. Today, they have not only excelled in their rankings but have now become the co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup! These discussions inevitably reignite another debate in India - that we are enamoured by cricket a bit too much and worship our cricketing figures as idols, so much so that we have this cricketing fever at the expense of football and other sports.

Granted that we do continue to excel solely in cricket but that doesn’t explain why we’re lagging in football. In fact, if we took a few pages out of cricket and applied to our football, we would see better results. For example, investing in infrastructure and scouting young talents rather than distributing as administrative salaries.

Nevertheless, this criticism rests on a deeper assumption (which is often reiterated by many) – an assumption that cricket is rather considered a game that is played by ten or twelve former British colonies around the world, despite being the second most popular sport of all time. The problem is, such an analysis is superficial and takes only a few seconds to have “repeat value” which can be amplified in the day and age of social media.

Much of our analysis regarding any sport is limited to only that which receives the most television coverage. The elite of the sports ecosystem should not be confused with the entirety of the sports ecosystem. Most casual football fans love watching the Champions League, with their interest only in the Top 5 leagues i.e. English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga and sometimes, not even the latter two since they know which team would dominate these leagues.

Sure, they do have the highest quality of players but we often miss out on the passionate Turkish league, or the Russian Premier Liga which gave rise to stars like Kvicha Kvaratskhelia or Igor Akinfeev; or even the Eredivisie, which is known to be Europe’s scouting hub when it comes to managers choosing young talents. Similarly, our view of cricket is shaped by our observations of test-only nations. 

On the other hand, it is difficult to ignore Namibia’s resurgence in cricket, considering their participation in the last T20 World cup. Nepal routinely fills cricket stadiums and has risen in their rankings considerably with hard hitters like Dipendra Singh Airee and Kushal Malla. The Irish have not just achieved test status, they have also very recently defeated India in a T20 series!

When we look at Italy, we see that they’re rising in the world of cricket and have a phenomenal run compared to former non-test heavyweights like Scotland or Kenya but we are unaware of Italy’s cricketing pedigree. While cricket is portrayed as a sport limited to England, it thrived across Europe for centuries. Popular football club Genoa FC continues to carry the name “Genoa Cricket and Football Club” since 1893 while AC Milan was founded by English expatriates as Milan Cricket and Football Club in 1899!

Hence, we observe that while cricket is gradually building upon its lost heritage across the world, while the footballing ecosystem is being increasingly concentrated to Europe. This is what we can call the “Europeanisation of football”. Although the sport is played by almost every nation on earth, it’s elite ecosystem is concentrated only within a small region in Western and Southern Europe.

Historical clubs like Mohun Bagan or East Bengal in India, or Kaiser Chiefs in South Africa remain cultural giants in their own areas but their legacy is largely celebrated locally instead of globally. Even FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup has done little to eliminate this disparity. South American teams continued to demonstrate that they can go the distance with the European heavyweights with Botafogo defeating PSG 1-0 or Fluminense defeating Inter Milan 2-0. However, its significance was still viewed as just another trophy and conversations around it revolved around its “politics” rather than a genuine tournament that celebrated the global footprint of football. 

This is again, due to a very apparent reason. The best players migrate to this region of South and West Europe at a young age. TV rights prioritise the viewership of football in these areas, sponsorships follow the football in these handful of clubs and finally, even discussions revolve around these leagues. While the sport is a global behemoth in its nature, the benefit is only reaped by a small region.

In fact, the localisation of cricket was the very reason that turned off many people of India from viewing ‘cricket as a religion’ and opened our eyes to ‘the beautiful game’ which was actually loved across the world. We wished cricket were as popular as football on a global scale but that localisation factor has quietly seeped into the world of football. The result? At one point in time, we could realistically consider teams like Ajax or Porto or even Red Star Belgrade to win the Champions League. Not anymore.

Similarly, the variety of football and tactics are becoming increasingly data-driven to generate maximum revenue. Footballing styles that were the hallmark of various leagues or nations – like the Joga Bonito of Brazil or the Italian style of defence – all of them have converged to bring about a more efficient, yet robotic style of continuous passing and pressing. Injuries are becoming more common since players have less time for recovery within their gruelling schedule, especially in EPL and La Liga.

When it comes to cricket, however, the entirety of the sponsorship-driven, data-based ecosystem has reaped unending benefits. Gone are the days when exceptional skill alone could compensate for poor athleticism. Player fitness is increasingly becoming a subject of awareness. Players like Azam Khan are questioned and driven to have a better shape despite having enough timing and skill in their arsenal. Cricketers are not only expected to perform, but also excel at endurance, nutrition, recovery and even fielding standards unlike the earlier era in which we found a handful of athletic fielders like Mohammad Kaif or Jonty Rhodes. The presence of such standards has made the game faster and more complete in its nature.

This influence of data has extended well beyond player conditioning. It has helped bowlers to exploit the most minute mistakes in a batter’s technique. Fielding placements are made better after studying years of statistical evidence. With the help of data, the gap between the associate and test teams are increasingly shrinking.

When the Netherlands defeated England in the 2009 World Cup, it was viewed as an upset. Today, however, Associate nations defeating test sides do not carry the same sort of impossibility. Namibia and Scotland have consistently demonstrated the narrowing gap between Associate nations and Full Members with their competitive performances. In 2016 World Cup, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe and pushed stronger teams to their limit, subsequently becoming a full member in 2017.

We can also observe the growth of leagues due to the sponsorship-driven reality of cricket today. Leagues like Dubai IT20 have emerged. USA, too, is emerging in the global sphere due to Major League Cricket which played a role in their victory against Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Perhaps, the clearest indicator of cricket’s growth lies with the popularity of the IPL. According to Global Football, the IPL has more global cumulative viewership than La Liga, Spain’s top-tier league.

All in all, as things stand, football uses its data and sponsorship to demonstrate excellence while cricket uses data and sponsorship to democratise excellence.

Another factor working in cricket’s favour is its inclusion in the Olympics in Los Angeles 2028. Cricket’s inclusion to the Games has the potential to be one of its most significant milestones. Olympic recognition creates an incentive for national governments throughout the world to invest in the grassroots viz coaching infrastructure, player development etc. Furthermore, for nations within the top 50 nations according to ICC T20 rankings, an Olympic qualification would become as significant a target as qualifying for an ICC event since everyone would fight for that one medal. This would accelerate investment of the ICC in nations that have historically remained on the sidelines or even invisible for the test-playing nations.

When we look at football, on the other hand, it stands at the pinnacle of sports with its UEFA Champions League and World Cup overshadowing every major sporting event across the globe. Even the football that we see in the Olympics, is largely restricted to Under 23 with limited players above the said age bracket. This is because clubs need to prioritise their domestic and continental commitments while preserving the integrity of their regular competitions. Cricket, meanwhile, would benefit enormously from their exposure to the Olympics.

Another aspect is the demographics. Cricket is making inroads in regions that have remained either oblivious from cricket or have treated it as a niche sport. Particularly, Africa and East Asia. For example, China achieved affiliate status in 2004 and associate status in 2017, marking its steady increase in rankings. The China women’s team stood fourth in Asian games in 2010 and 2014, which is remarkable for a nation that stands largely aloof from cricket. Uganda offers yet another compelling example, being a qualifier for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. While football remains popular in Uganda, they have found considerably more success in cricket.

Much like civilisations, sports has its periods of expansion and complications. Of course, none of it suggests that football would surrender its status as the most followed sport but one thing should be noted. While football has reached the stage where it stands as an old guard that defends its kingdom, cricket is steadily expanding its new kingdom by discovering alliances – old and new.

• Written by Shreyan Laha