Cricket arrives in Football Country

For any sports fan, it's always a welcome sight to see all the different sports and games flourishing. This is one of the factors which contribute to the growth of a nation. A country is fit when it's people are fit, especially the youth. So we all want our country to progress even more in sports.

North East is such a region where sports have always been popular and states like Manipur and Mizoram lead the way. North East youth love to play any sport if they have the facilities in their vicinity. Mostly Boxing, Tae Kwon Do, Badminton, Archery, other forms of martial arts, Basketball, Athletics, and some traditional sports are popular amongst the 8 sister states.

Football however has caught the fancy and imagination of the people, from Sikkim to Nagaland and Arunachal to Tripura, football is played and watched in every nook and corner of this mostly hilly region. Manipur and Mizoram have over the years produced many talented players who have gone on to play for top clubs across the country and also the National team.

Football is popular in the rest of the North-Eastern states as well with Shillong Lajong FC from Meghalaya being the first club from the North East to play in the I-League. Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal, Nagaland, and Tripura have a bit of catching up to do as far as football infrastructure and their local leagues are concerned. The respective state associations might have already noted this.

In the past few years, however, cricket is making quite a buzz in the North East. Not so long ago only Assam and Tripura played in the Ranji Trophy and other domestic tournaments, now that has changed and other states have also started playing. With the backing of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which is the richest cricket board of the world. Money is not an issue with all these new members getting considerable funds for cricket development in their state. In Sikkim, the most visible change is the Mining Cricket Ground which has got a lush green grass cover and is looking like those county grounds in England.

Is this a worrying sign for Football and other sports in the North East? Well, sports and games can co-exist but certainly in the financial aspect cricket will have a huge advantage. In the last few seasons, Sikkim Cricket Association (SCA) has spent a whopping amount on Players and Staff Salaries which other sports and associations cannot match. Many players left their well-paying jobs in big cities and returned home to play cricket which says a lot about the financial might of the SCA.

Cricket also has that attraction and glamour and the Millennials might automatically get attracted to it as they are more into stuff which is "Lit" for them and cricket, at least the T20 fulfills that criteria, please take this point in the Indian context. Indian Super League (ISL) has to some extent made Indian Football popular but it's no competition for the Indian Premier League (IPL). Many other sports also have their own franchise-based leagues and are doing well but financially non can match Cricket.

So, now its time for the stakeholders of other sports and games especially the sports associations to pull up their socks and at least mark their territory. They might have to think about other ways of fund generation to compensate for the grants that they get from the Government. Sports Sponsorship is still a new concept in the North East and that can be explored. Mizoram has shown with the Mizoram Premier League that companies can be attracted to football. Let's hope cricket and all the other sports along with football will coexist because even in this day and age for some it's not about the money but the passion to be a lover of one particular sport.

Photo: Sikkim Cricket Association