"If Cricket is religion then Sachin is God". This banner was sighted in one of the world cup matches, and this is what people have in their mind. In a land where sentiments run high, cricket is more than a game to many and players are worshipped as gods. So their failure has an abnormal and opposite reaction (Newton's fourth law?!) among the people.

When there is lot of other games played in India, why this time killing cricket is so popular? Is it because the game is so thrilling? Or it is just because of the hype created by the commercial giants. It is a tricky game played by the giant companies. As far as human resource is concerned, India stands second after China in the world. A country with such a prosperous human resource is the main target for any manufacturer. And to make their products reach people, cricket is used as a vector.

Why cricket? Perhaps cricket is the only game played for a long duration of time, people give themselves to their seats for such a long time, and it is easy to catch their mind. In television broadcasting, cricket is the only game where in between advertisements are possible. In the ground, well, except on the player's forehead, there is advertisement everywhere.

When we hear the money involved in cricket, it is hard to believe. Nearly 5000 crore rupees is involved in the World Cup cricket betting. For the relay of the match, a television broadcaster pays 1.5 to 2.0 crores of rupees to the board (in India). 32 crore rupees is the amount that has to be spent for sponsoring the Indian team. And 2.25 lakh rupees is what an Indian player gets as a single match fee, whether he plays or sits as a substitute. Crores and lakhs, this is what cricket is today.

From a gentleman's game, cricket has turned into a massive industry with huge turnover. Precious time and money is what people spend for this entertaining cricket. When more people watch cricket, more the advertisements reach them and more is the product sales. When a player enter the advertisement contracts, sometimes they are in a position to spend more time for them, than cricket. An example on the arrival of the Indian team from New Zealand after the series, the first place they were taken was to the shooting spots, even before they were able to recover from the jet lag.

The issue gets hotter and hotter, what do people think.

P.JEYARAJ, CIVIL ENGINEER: "Well I agree that cricket is turning into a big industry. The players are popular, they play, act, earn. But we should not forget one thing, if the players don't play well and lose their popularity, no one will call them for a commercial. It all depends on how popular they are in cricket. Everything will be ok if the money and fame does not overtake their talents".

R.SRIDHAR SKYLAB, STUDENT:"Participation is more important than winning" is the old say. But now participation alone fetches a lot of money to the players, and sometimes they completely forget winning".

R.RAJKUMAR, CRICKETER: "Concentration is the key for any game. Even a minor diversion affects the game to a great extent. Once the players are inside the ground they should shed everything and focus on the game. Outside the ground, it is their choice".

S.V.SUBRAMANIAN, FOREMAN:"Our players are good, not only in cricket, but also in acting. It has become a side business for every player and even if they are out of the team, they can make their living by acting?!" Complete commercialization of cricket is no good to the game. But above all these, cricket still remains a great entertainer and a wonderful sport. Cricket has the unique power of uniting people, no matter what caste or creed they belong to. The pollution of cricket should be lessened; it will be a healthy one for the game.