Sports have been used as a form of recreation for over 3,000 years. The first athletic event took place in ancient Greece, and spectators watched for amusement. The most popular sports in the world unite people and foster a sense of community, harmony and peace. Cricket is undoubtedly the sport that brings together many cultures, faiths and nations.

Cricket is becoming more and more well liked as more T20 tournaments like IPL, CPL and PSL spring up throughout the globe. The ICC, the world’s highest cricket regulating organization, has made many efforts to increase cricket’s popularity. It involves providing specific assistance to associate nations including USA, Canada and Germany. Additionally, more competitions are held between associate countries to raise their standards and prepare them for future. Cricket is popular among those who want to be active and healthy as well as those who want to socialise, make friends and meet new people. In nations like India and Pakistan, cricket is considered a religion, and it is most popular professional sport in indian subcontinent. In the future cricket will compete with football for the most popular sport in the world. There are currently more football players and supporters (3.5 billion) than any other sport.

Cricket has been increasingly popular across the world, but notably in south asia, for variety of reasons. First off, this sport is played and watched by people of various ages, india is a prime example. Second, it receives sponsorships from hundreds of companies and has a sizable and active fan following. IPL serves as an illustration of sports fandom and financial success. 120  venues  have  held  test matches since 1877, following the first official match between england and australia, despite the fact  that oneday  international  and Twenty20 matches dominate the world of cricket in the twenty-first century.

Famous Cricket Venues:

The home of cricket is Lords, in London, which is the site of the Marylebone Cricket Club, also known as the MCC. The Narendra Modi stadium near Ahmedabad, India, is the biggest cricket stadium in the world, with a capacity of 132,000 spectators.

Some of the most famous and beautiful cricket stadiums in the world are:

• Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG in Australia)
• Dharmshala (India)
• Super Sports Park, Centurion (South Africa)

Cricket’s Most Famous Players in this century:

• Sir Don Bradman- Australia
• Sachin Tendulkar - India
• Shane Warne - Australia
• Sir Ian Botham - England
• Sir Viv Richards - West Indies
• Sunil Gavaskar- India
• Wasim Akram- Pakistan

At the time, I thought test cricket was the pinnacle of sport and nothing could top it. I still feel this way since old habits are hard to break and old is gold. But the advent of first ICC World cup in 1975, which was played in limited over format, and which the dominant west indies won in a thriller against the aussies in an epic final after defeating everyone in their path to get there, I believe, heralded the winds of real change. The windies did that once more in 1979, increasing the ante because their popularity was at an all-time high. Who could ever forget the explosion by Sir Viv as he tore through the helpless english attack and the enormous Big Bird Garner as he terrorised the english batting with his bounce as windies successfully regained their title by thrashing england in final.

It is not difficult to surmise that OD50 format would soon disappear from the world of cricket as T20 gains support from large money, entrenched commercial, and betting interests.

Cricket Australia has already given a signal that this is a possibility by ending the OD50 Tri-Series, a fixture of the australian  summer. In the long run,  cricket  continues to be a serious rival to football.