Cricket is a religion in India and people follow the game more than anything else. People follow despite the team's inconsistency @ various events and that's the reason the sport has generated lot of commerce. If India had good players in Hockey, Tennis, Soccer, Basket Ball, Rugby or any other game, the viewership & attention drawn by cricket would have reduced but unfortunately the truth is that India only play cricket. We had Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupati & Sania Mirza gain popularity and win some Grand slam tournaments. Gopi Chand in Badminton was good but Vishwanathan Anand should be on the top for his mental strength and ability to defend championships for couple of years now.
Viswanathan Anand was crowned as World Chess Champion in Sofia after he defeated Veselin Topalov. Not many people realize that he has been World Champion for quite sometime and his achievements haven't seen the kind of lime light and attention that IPL Night Parties have had.
http://sports.rediff.com/report/2010/may/12/congratulate-viswanathan-anand-world-chess-champion.htm
http://sports.rediff.com/report/2010/may/13/aruna-anand-on-vishys-triumph.htm
Cheers
vishal
