Cricket has always been the bread and butter of India. You will find a cricket fan on every street irrespective of every sport. You might as well call it the national sport of India at this point. With the rise of Short and high-paced series like the IPL. The craze for cricket is at an all-time high. 

Even Gamers have started hoping to see games like cricket 19 in esports. Many gamers in the gaming community also showed their hopes to see IPL Indian Premier League (IPL) as an esports game at least on the national level. After the popularity of PUBG and Valorant In India. Esports have finally started to grow in India. Even more so due to lockdown.

We even saw a lot of popular sports titles like FIFA, NBA, Tennis and F1 Racing, etc. gain popularity due to covid lockdowns. With all the major sports from different countries trying to scoop the esports pie many in the Indian gamer community are hoping to see cricket at the forefront of Indian eSports at least amongst the sports titles. 

After all, FIFA and NBA are not that popular in India as compared to cricket. Unfortunately 

Cricket organizations like ICC have yet to show an interest in Cricket as an esports title.

Even popular developers like EA Sports have yet to show an interest in Cricket as a game. The last cricket game was showcased in 2007. That was 14 years ago. The Indian community seems to be more interested in mobile games such as dream 11 instead. With millions of users spending time and money in making Dream 11 Teams. With the Rise of IPL online. Many Indians also have started betting Brands such as betway have started betting on their favourite IPL teams. Numerous IPL betting tips and guides can also be seen on the internet with the love for cricket increasing each day..

Whereas the latest cricket-based PC/CONSOLE game seems to be Cricket 19 from Australia from big ant studios. This game truly has some amazing graphics that are quite popular among the cricket gaming community. You can check out the screenshots of the gameplay below:

Other companies have tried and failed horribly while trying to make a cricket game. The main reason being the lack of innovative graphics and gameplay. Many games have failed to meet the standards set by older games such as EA’s Cricket 2007.

IPL VS TEST AND ODI: Which is better for Esports?

The answer is rather obvious if you ask me since only IPL seems to be trending in India due to its fast pace and excitement. Not to mention its support by ICC and other organizations. Other games seem highly unlikely due to a lack of support from the cricket community as well as the gaming community.

From what we know EA Sports has decided not to make any cricket games due to licensing and legal issues. As such cricket 2007 will be the last cricket game made by EA. For now, many mobile games are popular in India such as the real cricket game by nautilus mobile which has over 10 million downloads. But it is not enough for an esports scene

IPL in Esports: India’s last hope

India is said to be one of the ripest nations for esports due to its large population and incredibly huge gaming community. When you combine this with the sudden rise of games such as pubg and Valorant in India the future of esports in India looks promising. Esports is said to become a billion-dollar industry by end of 2023. So the hope of seeing cricket in esports is not without merit. With the rise of esports viewership in millions from official channels such as YouTube and twitch. The hope for cricket IPL esports in India is still a good possibility though would require tremendous monetary support from cricket organizations. 

The ICC Cricket World Cup is currently the largest tournament in the world with a prize pool of $14 million. Esports such as DOTA 2 International and Fortnite have easily crossed this in the last few years. Due to huge sponsorships, DOTA 2 INTERNATIONAL prize pool was 34.33 Million dollars whereas Fortnite has pledged 20 million dollars for this year. 

Conclusion

The majority of the Indian Gaming community is still hoping to see IPL IN Esports even though it seems unlikely at this point. But here is to hope anyways. We at noobs2pro truly hope to see more of esports in India.

Happy Gaming See you in-game