In India, cricket is much more than a sport; it is also a political tool, a lucrative industry, a source of prestige, and among India’s most powerful levers for exerting global influence. None of this is lost on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he prepares to seek re-election next year.
NEW DELHI – Tell anyone outside the British Commonwealth that a couple billion people are currently ridden by World Cup fever, and you are likely to be met with a puzzled stare. For most of the world, the World Cup is a football (soccer) tournament that took place in Qatar last year and will not occur again until 2026 in North America. But for the rest of us – most notably, the nearly two billion people of the Indian subcontinent – the men’s cricket World Cup taking place in India right now is what really matters.
The tournament began on October 5, with a match featuring the two finalists from the 2019 World Cup in England. The loser then, New Zealand, exacted revenge, steamrolling England at the cavernous Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which – thanks to the dominance of the stadium’s namesake and Indian prime minister – is widely viewed as India’s new cricket capital. Modi himself is expected to attend the final there on November 19.
As Modi prepares to seek a third term in next year’s general election, his plan to put himself and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) center-stage at the final of India’s most popular event is a calculated political move. An Indian victory in the World Cup final would cap off a string of recent international successes – including the landing in August of a lunar rover on the Moon’s south pole and the September G20 summit – thereby reinforcing Modi’s narrative of national resurgence. (India is a favorite to win, but the competition at this marquee event is always intense.)
NEW DELHI – Tell anyone outside the British Commonwealth that a couple billion people are currently ridden by World Cup fever, and you are likely to be met with a puzzled stare. For most of the world, the World Cup is a football (soccer) tournament that took place in Qatar last year and will not occur again until 2026 in North America. But for the rest of us – most notably, the nearly two billion people of the Indian subcontinent – the men’s cricket World Cup taking place in India right now is what really matters.
The tournament began on October 5, with a match featuring the two finalists from the 2019 World Cup in England. The loser then, New Zealand, exacted revenge, steamrolling England at the cavernous Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which – thanks to the dominance of the stadium’s namesake and Indian prime minister – is widely viewed as India’s new cricket capital. Modi himself is expected to attend the final there on November 19.
As Modi prepares to seek a third term in next year’s general election, his plan to put himself and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) center-stage at the final of India’s most popular event is a calculated political move. An Indian victory in the World Cup final would cap off a string of recent international successes – including the landing in August of a lunar rover on the Moon’s south pole and the September G20 summit – thereby reinforcing Modi’s narrative of national resurgence. (India is a favorite to win, but the competition at this marquee event is always intense.)