Volumes have been written about sports but followers or fans are hardly lucky enough to draw attention even remotely similar to professional games and sports personalities. But without spectators or viewers no sport or game is what it is. The size of spectators on the gallery may vary depending on the appeal of a sport discipline but in the absence of avid and passionate fans no game can flourish. It is because of the spectators who cheer and egg on players to go the extra length for achieving victory.
However not all games are popular everywhere. Football may be the most popular game in the world but in the United States of America, the National Football League (NFL), an altogether different ball game from what in the rest of the world is meant by football, tops the ranking in popularity. Next comes basketball and until recently baseball was third in the order but after Lionel Messi's arrival in America, the real football is gaining in popularity and has risen to be ranked third.
In this part of the world, however, cricket has lately become highly popular because the number of the nations playing the game is limited. Even after its globalisation drive, it cannot arrange a world tournament with more than 12 to 15 teams. Hockey in the undivided Indian sub-continent was the game to dominate at the international stage. But after the introduction of astroturf or artificial grass turf, the mesmerising skill of South Asian players was overtaken by speed and power play. With the fall of quality viewer support for the game also started to decline. There is, however, a fresh start to revive the lost glory of the game. The same is true for kabadi, a game that finds its origin in the soil of this sub-continent.
There are other sports and games that have originated here. But none needs more physical engagement than wrestling. The American football also demands similar or even more physical engagement. Usually the game that locks several players together in a battle for snatching the ball at times looks brutal. Without a bull in a ring of bull fighting, it is no less fierce or unruly an exercise for the possession of the ball. Now spectators of such games also go wild. The more engaging a game is physically, the wilder the response from supporters or crowds.
In this respect, cricket is called a gentlemen's game and so should have been the appreciation from the spectators. Now this observation is biased and also a misstatement. This is because 'gentle women' also play the game seriously and professionally. Then if cricket is a game of gentle people, are people who play other sports and games not gentle enough? Sure enough, cricket like other games has evolved, so have its following and active supporters. The best example is the 'Barmy Army' which now travels to countries where England's cricket teams tour. With a quiet beginning in the middle of the 90s of the past century, this group has grown into a force to reckon with. They are not quiet but highly vociferous. Maybe, they fall short of the raucous cheering volumes of football fields' galleries but they too have made it a way of raising sound levels to greater height. Now there are drums and other instruments to create a festival-like atmosphere by colourfully attired spectators. The boisterous celebration, however, goes on briefly when a wicket falls or a boundary or over-boundary is struck. Spectators are even seen to create what is called 'Mexican Wave' on the galleries.
"Quiet please!", goes the umpire's appeal in a game that is highly enjoyable but to some degrees selective. This is tennis. A gruelling game, tennis is not for the ordinary mortals. Call it an elite game if you like. Even the tennis arena with smaller courts and galleries, it indeed is a fascinating game but only restricted to richer segments of society. There are four grand slams which bring the best out of players and the bond between the favourite players and spectators is really deep. They cheer the players they love but do not forget to appreciate the quality of the opponents. Even the bonhomie between players was something to be cherished until a Ukrainian female player refused to handshake with her opponent now ranked number one at the Australian Open.
The 'no handshake syndrome' which the Indian cricketers introduced recently has now travelled to tennis court. This is not fair. The very spirit of games and sports is getting undermined or even sacrificed on the intrusive political altar.
© 2026 - All Rights with The Financial Express
