Winning any sporting event spreads a feeling of nationalism in a nation, and India is no different in this regard. Although, of course, India already has a strong sense of patriotism, thanks to the Independence struggle and subsequent events. Still, witnessing a sports match like an India West Indies live brings about a relatively purer form of nationalism.

Being divided into multiple states and having people from different castes, creeds, religions, and languages tend to separate parts of India. But when you see players from the north, east, west, and south of India all playing together in the same team and doing well in the T20 qualifiers, it instills a feeling of unity. So, for example, a Mumbaikar may have tons of issues with Mumbai, but they unite when adoring Suryakumar Yadav.

That is true for all sports. Indian Badminton player Prakash Padukone and Tennis player Ramkumar Ramanathan are doing well and uniting the nation. Still, they cannot make everyone feel like someone from around them is up there in a two-person or individual sport. In addition, almost everyone in India has played cricket at some point in their lives. Whether in parks or on the streets, they are more familiar with it. But in general, team sports like cricket, hockey, and football tend to unite a nation more. So, imagine the excitement and the buzz in the country when the IPL or a T20 schedule is out.

However, this feel-good emotion and sense of national pride don’t last too long, and pretty soon, things are back to normal, and the divide between states gets back to the way it was. Such events only fuel a short-term sense of unity. But again, every time India plays, you have the majority of the nation watching it on an IPL live app and backing the Indian Cricket team.

India is vast in area, population, languages spoken, cultures followed, religion, and caste. The various castes, subcastes, and languages make people living within these divisions very different in their lives.

However, the one thing that is almost constant across the depth and breadth of India is the children playing cricket almost everywhere on the streets or on open grounds. So be it adults or children, Hindu or Muslim, and north or south Indian, you can always play cricket together.

Cricket stars are treated like heroes by different people regardless of their cricketers, religion, or state.

While in a game, what language you or the other players speak does not matter, and being an Indian, what matters is that you certainly know the cricket language. You know the game’s rules and can communicate with the other players by using just that. It is incredible how people who don’t even know each other and are so very different in the languages they speak, and the lifestyles they live, play together as a team.

In a nation divided by language, religion, caste, and whatnot, cricket has proved to be a glue holding us together. It is incredible to see people cheering a Virat Kohli shot or a Ravichandran Ashwin delivery on an IPL score app, not caring about the state they come from or the language they speak. Virat Kohli is a big star in Chennai, and Ashwin is cheered even in Delhi.