More than a sport — the game that united a billion people and became India's second religion.
Cricket came to India as the colonizer's game, played in exclusive clubs where Indians were not welcome. It leaves as the country's deepest obsession — a force that unites a billion people across every division of language, religion, region, and class. The 1983 World Cup victory transformed cricket from a gentleman's pastime into a national religion. Sachin Tendulkar became the most worshipped sportsperson on Earth. The IPL turned a slow sport into a fast-paced entertainment empire worth billions. And when MS Dhoni hit that six in the 2011 World Cup final, a nation stood still. This timeline traces how a bat-and-ball game brought to India by the British became the most powerful cultural force in the country — and how India, in turn, became the center of the cricketing universe.
A curated dispatch of forgotten moments, pivotal turning points, and the stories behind the dates.