KEY POINTS:
The rise of cricket as a sporting phenomenon in India appears relentless, even after the defeat to Australia. Anyone arriving at Mumbai for this year's Champion's Trophy is bombarded by cricket imagery - and that's just in the taxi ride to town.
When you divert your attention from the chaos that is the transport system you soon realise cricket's selling power. Indian players adorn billboards everywhere and even Darren "Boof" Lehmann's cherubic mug beams from one motorway exit.
A tip for avoiding what sometimes might be considered surly taxi drivers, or waiters: Simply mention first the cricket, second the fact you're from New Zealand and name-drop Sir Richard Hadlee for good measure.
Facial muscles move immediately from grimace to grin and often you'll have instant access to a human Wisden.
This is cricket-fanatical India - turn on a television, open up a local website or a newspaper and there will be Sachin, Rahul et al clinging to a certain mobile phone, drinking a particular beverage or making themselves at home with the latest appliances. Tendulkar can't even go to his own restaurant unless under armed guard to sample his Mum's recipe of Bombay duck.
Then there are the baying mobs inside the stadium, especially in the losses to the West Indies and Australia. Saffron, white and green painted faces sway with the flying flags, not to mention the beating of drums, stamping of feet and dancing.
The sport has always been popular, from its introduction through British colonial rule and India's debut as a test nation against England in 1932. Many believe the real influence came when India, led by Kapil Dev, won the World Cup in 1983.
Suddenly the roles of hockey and football began to diminish. To back this up, head out to the Oval Maidan in the heart of Mumbai where you will witness a host of honest triers, emulating their modern-day heroes. At one end of the scale are those in immaculately pressed creams performing on grass (or more commonly baked dirt).
But there are equally absorbing and tense battles unfolding on one of the oval's numerous dustbowls, the combatants all a rung or two down from those in tidy creams.
This perhaps reflects the biggest change of the past generation - it is claimed the Indian caste system now has little impact on who plays for the national team.
Sure, there is still the rivalry between areas - Mumbai's Sachin Tendulkar vs Kolkata's Sourav Ganguly being one.
But India now has players who have risen from modest middle class backgrounds. These include 19-year-old Suresh Raina, who admits school study has been important so he's got something to fall back on.
There's Harbhajan Singh, whose Dad was a clerk in the railways; Ramesh Powar, who was raised by a sister; and farm boy Munaf Patel.
For Vijay Lokapally, cricket writer for the Hindu Sportstar for 20 years, it has been quite a transformation.
"It is now a team genuinely picked on merit. A common man achieves his dreams through these cricketers so it's great there are players they can relate to and aspire to be like."
Crowds were poor for games other than India's at the Champion's Trophy, in most cases with barely a quarter of seats taken. Lokapally argues the country's fanaticism only really extends to the home team and with free live television coverage it is cheaper and more comfortable to watch it at home.
Ashish Magotra of the Daily News and Analysis (DNA) says the common man might not always be able to afford to watch India, let alone any international side. The cheapest seats at Mumbai's Cricket Club of India (CCI) cost 700 rupees (NZ$23) or more than a quarter of a standard weekly wage and up to 10,000 (NZ$335).
The cost does not seem to worry the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), who are estimated to make 95 per cent of their income from the sale of broadcasting rights.
The board have sold the next four years' global rights for more than NZ$1.6 billion including over NZ$1 billion for home matches. That is at least a 10-fold jump in revenue from the previous four years.
The extra cash for investment means the BCCI have their sights on the International Cricket Council television rights due for renewal after the 2007 World Cup. Some estimate more than NZ$1.5 billion will be needed to seal the deal; almost twice the money required in 2000.
As co-host of the 2011 World Cup, the BCCI believe they can generate huge profits from such an investment
It will be a hard-fought battle, as other ICC members are already raising eyebrows at India's financial clout. Added to that is the ICC suspicion the BCCI could undermine its future tours programme by organising autonomous events in expatriate Indian strongholds such as the USA, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore, combined with extra revenue earning matches against Australia, England and Pakistan.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed has written to the BCCI concerned at the lack of consultation. BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi hasn't helped matters, terming the ICC "neo-imperialist" and describing them as the new "East India Company" in reference to India's colonial-ruled past.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
