Formula One Overtakes Cricket As No.1 Sports Passion in India. Likely?

The first ever Indian Formula One Grand Prix drew a lot of reaction from those involved in the racing and those outside of it. One of those was the ambition that Formula One would pip cricket passions in the country. Is that possible? And would it be good for the sport?

Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One boss, believes Formula One is here to stay in India, a compliment echoed by fans in the country as well as some of the Indian celebrities including the Indian cricketers who were bowled over by the spectacle. At the end of the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit in Noida, there was a collective relief that Formula One had come to India had come only once to India as opposed to cricket that is played around the year these days.
There is undoubtedly a grand following for Formula One amongst Indians and the fact that the racing was brought to India made it more of a celebration of adrenaline that is not easy to get over as the weekend proved in plenty. However, that it can actually match the crazed following that cricket enjoys in India seems a task even the multi million dollar speed thrill would have earn over time. And that would not be easy with just the one race in India although it would have done a lot towards making more people aware of the sport and perhaps see more viewership from India for more international F1 races, although only two remain in the 2011 season.
While cricket cannot match steps with Formula One racing's worldwide following, it would certainly have a tough task sustaining interest in a sport that will see only one race a year.

365 Days Cricket - Malcolm Marshall

365 Days Cricket - Malcolm Marshall

In case Dennis Lillee was the best feared bowler of the 1970s then Malcolm Marshall took over that mantle in the 1980s. He was the best of a set of excellent West Indian fast bowlers. He was short for a fast bowler, but put to use this to his benefit by bowling the ball at a low flight at the batsman’s stumps.

Malcolm Marshall’s success as a bowler is shown by his test bowling average. In test matches a bowling average under 30 is known as excellent: Below 25 and you’re speaking all-time great; Malcolm Marshall’s average was under 21.

Malcolm Marshall’s story has a tragic postscript. In 1999, he died of cancer aged only 41. He may happen to be scary by players but Marshall was also extremely popular.

365 Days Cricket - Dennis Lillee

365 Days Cricket - Dennis Lillee

Everyone lucky enough to see Dennis Lillee bowl won't forget the view. He was the embodiment of the ideal fast bowler. His exact, smooth run-up to the wicket, perfect balance when delivering the cricket ball and control over where the ball landed on the wicket were all A1. The truth is when he first burst on the scene in early 1970s batsmen didn’t find out how to play him.

Nevertheless, Dennis Lillee had serious injury issues and was kept out of test cricket for the greatest part of two years with a stress fracture of the back. When he came back to trounce England in 1974, he was back to his best. Between 1974 and 1976 Dennis Lillee and other Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson laid waste to batsmen over the world. For a short period of time Australia had become the greatest team on the planet, mostly because of this fiery pair of fast bowlers.

Jeff Thomson never reached such Olympian heights again but Dennis Lillee stayed the world’s number 1 fast bowler for the rest of the 1970s. When his career ended in 1983 he had taken a then world record 355 test wickets in only 70 test matches.

365 Days Cricket - Adam Gilchrist

365 Days Cricket - Adam Gilchrist

Adam Gilchrist  has been the scourge of bowlers around the world since he made his test debut. He hits the ball as hard and far as no one in the history of cricket. But Adam Gilchrist isn’t only a force of nature like a batsman. He is and a top drawer wicket-keeper. That he is extremely talented at two cricketing disciplines makes him an all rounder.

Time and again Adam Gilchrist has dug his team out of a hole. He bats quite low in the batting order, at number six or seven, and just after the competitors thinks it is doing well Adam Gilchrist strides to the wicket and hits a century. He averages almost 50 runs every time he bats and is well on his way to smashing the record for most catches taken by a wicket-keeper.

365 Days Cricket - Sir Gary Sobers

365 Days Cricket - Gary Sobers

Garfield St Auburn Sobers or simply Gary Sobers has become the only man to have a justifiable case to be deemed a better cricketer than Donald Bradman. He was a little bit of cricketing freak, because he could do almost everything. He could bowl fast. He could swing the ball and he could bowl both kinds of spin. Also, he was, without doubt, the best left handed batsman to have ever played cricket. In test matches he scored over 8,000 runs and took 235 wickets. However the raw statistics don't do full justice to how great a cricketer Gary Sobers was. Being a batsman he was able to laying waste the bowling.

One of his most well-known exploits was to hit six sixes in a single over delivered by Glamorgan bowler Malcolm Nash in 1968. Gary Sobers was also an extremely clever captain of the West Indies and a top class fielder. To put it briefly, he'd everything and stands out as a genius.

365 Days Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar

365 Days Cricket - Sachin Tendulkar

At age 16 Sachin Tendulkar was making his debut in a test match for India. He was an instant hit; a guru batsman while still just a boy. Within the 15 years from his debut, Sachin Tendulkar’s bright light of talent has always been undimmed. He has gained test matches nearly single-handed and is an Indian cricketing and national icon. Don Bradman announced that Sachin Tendulkar plays cricket as he used too - praise comes no more than that. Up to now he's scored more than 10,000 runs and made 34 test match centuries.

To cover it all Sachin Tendulkar is probably the best one-day limited overs batsmen on the planet. Actually, he has scored over 13,000 runs in one-day limited over matches, reaching 100 runs in an innings almost 40 times. At age 38, Sachin Tendulkar were not to score another run he'd still deserve his place in the list of ever great cricketers.

365 Days Cricket - Sir Jack Hobbs

365 Days Cricket - Jack Hobbs

Up until the introduction of Don Bradman, Jack Hobbs was definitely the best batsman cricket had ever seen. He was simply called ‘The Master’ and a few die-hard England fans argue that he was in fact greater than Don Bradman. He scored more runs and centuries compared to any other player in the history of cricket. Like Don Bradman he lost probably the best years of his career to a World War. It was declared that just one player was better than Jack Hobbs after the First World War, and that was Jack Hobbs before the First World War.

Even after scoring such a large number of runs, Jack Hobbs was not ever deemed a selfish player. He was really a team player, playing boldy or defensively based on the needs of the team and the match situation. England has produced many wonderful batsmen but Jack Hobbs stands out as best.