There has been a lot of talk in recent times about an overdose of cricket that seems to have compelled fans to stay away from live telecasts of matches. This was noticed during the recently concluded season of IPL when the TRP of the telecasts reportedly fell down considerably compared to previous years.
The poor form and performance of the big stars also seemed to play a role in the seeming decline of popularity of cricket as a sport in the country. Besides, the excellent performance of Indian athletes and sportspersons in other sports suggested that there is more to sports than just cricket.
Some cynics and pessimists have already made doomsday forecasts that cricket will soon stop becoming an obsession with fans as they switch to other genres of sports and entertainment.
However, a nationwide survey conducted by CVoter on behalf of IANS seems to suggest that sports fans still enjoy watching cricket.
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The survey was conducted across all educational, socio economic and income groups. As per the results of the survey, 73 per cent of the respondents overall stated they were planning to watch the live telecast of the India-South Africa T20 series that starts on June 9, 2022. There was surprising news for those who think that it is predominantly males who watch cricket while females prefer other sources of entertainment.
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According to the survey, while 75 per cent of male respondents said they will watch the India-South Africa series, about 70 per cent of the male respondents shared the same sentiment. The popularity of cricket does seem to decline as incomes rise. While 75 per cent of low income respondents stated they will watch the live telecast of the series, 66 per cent of high income respondents shared the same sentiment. Perhaps families with higher incomes have easy access to other sources of entertainment.
