India Cricket Forum 2010 : seeking an answer to national obsession

If India is the global epicentre of cricket, is it leading the game in the right direction?

Does future of the game lie in harnessing and developing club cricket?

SportzPower, an independently-owned company operating in areas of media, marketing and events in India’s sports industry, is organising a conference called India Cricket Forum 2010 which plans to deal with exactly these and other pressing questions regarding cricket in front of us at India Habitat Centre, Delhi on 3rd August.

dwindling spectators is a cause of worry

Distinguished panelists including the likes of Harsha Bhogle, Ayaz Memon, head of GMR Sports Amrit Mathur, Sanjay Manjrekar and Aakash Chopra would discuss and voice their opinions about where the national obsession of India is headed in the India Cricket Forum.

And about what is the right direction for the shrinking game.

At the moment, there are supposedly only six major traditional cricketing nations – India, England, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa, with others like Pakistan and West Indies not being in their pink of health for various reasons. Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have not yet taken rapid strides to overcome their amateurish level. Quality of cricket has deteriorated and the market for Tests and now even one-day internationals has reduced considerably to trigger serious concerns about how cricket needs to be refreshed and revamped to suit spectators.

On the other hand, cricket T20 style has done wonders to popularise cricket by enthralling viewers and bringing in crowds. Since the first T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007, this branch of cricket has never looked back. The Indian Premier League and the Champions League were a watershed in the history of the game since finally cricket was exploring new horizons. Club cricket had taken off at last.

Yet, it does not get due prominence due to the Future Tours Programme (FTP) which concentrates only on national cricket teams touring each other. Are we missing a trick here? Do we learn a lesson from football, which thrives in the clubs of Europe, Asia and South America, thus accommodating thousands of quality players and creating a football culture?

India Cricket Forum 2010 would try to remove prevalent cliches regarding cricket and aim to find solutions for a better future for the gentleman’s game.

Cricket is still one of the most popular sports in the world, with a majority of the world’s nations recognising its rules and playing competitively. T20 cricket has further spread the game and now even a baseball-crazy America recognises the game with a frown and some amusement. The inclusion of T20 cricket in the Asian Games is a landmark in this regard. We only want to take the correct steps to continue the growth.

The event is a part of SportzPower’s Knowledge Series, and prior to this a Football Forum had also been organised sometime ago.

SportzPower is planning to host a couple of other conferences regarding different sports till the end of the year.