For the first time since the Indian economy liberalized in 1991, India won the World Cup in cricket, the game that is India’s passion. By beating Sri Lanka in a thrilling finish at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, India won the trophy in a moment of joy for the entire country on Saturday. People of Indian origin worldwide celebrated as one. Politicians at every level from President Pratibha Patel to Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi were seen celebrating as were Bollywood celebrities from actor Amitabh Bachchan to singer Lata Mangeshkar.

The money in cricket has changed dramatically since 1983, the last time India won the championship, then held at the Lord’s field in the United Kingdom. According to the Hindustan Times, “In 1983 out of the total prize money of about Rs 46 lakh (£66,200), captain Kapil Dev’s team pocketed Rs 14 lakh (£20,000). On Saturday, current captain MS Dhoni’s team got a payment 60 times larger, of about Rs 8.5 crore ($1.9 million). The tournament’s total prize money was Rs 27 crore ($6 million).”

But that is not all. India’s central government is actively considering a proposal by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to waive all income tax on direct and indirect winnings from the trophy. A retinue of additional monetary and non-monetary awards await the players, the team, the coach, the organizers and more, see story here.

The real money for the stars of the game is in advertising endorsements. For example Captain Dhoni earns $1.5 million per year per endorsement and currently endorses almost 20 brands including Sony, Pepsi, Reebok and Big Bazaar. His price is expected to double next week.

“With the World Cup win, there is a huge emotional connect at this moment with cricket,” says Subhinder Singh Prem, managing director, Reebok India, the official sponsor of the World Cup according to  the Daily Mint. “As a sports brand, we definitely want to ride the wave, do interesting things and engage with consumers.” Rebook India’s latest campaign for ZigTech shoes features Indian cricketers Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.

Of course what is driving this money is large television audiences. An incredible  Sixty-four per cent of cable and satellite homes in India were watching the final game of Word Cup Cricket. The  game was on for an average of four hours in every household. Ratings peaked towards the end of the match when India held the World Cup. The match got 13.7 television rating points (TVRs), the highest for any event so far. When the winning moment arrived, the ratings peaked, touching a massive 21.44.

Takeaway: Cricket’s impact on India exceeds sports and advertising and pervades every aspect of urban life in India.

Footnote: While the World Cup is over and teams from 14 countries have returned home, Indians a re only taking one week off from cricket. The Indian Premier League which pits local professional teams against one another begins April 8. Bring out the cheerleaders!

March 2011 has been a busy month in India. We have had  Warren Buffett and Sarah Palin make their maiden visit to this emerging economy.  And now the Prime Minister of neighbor and rival Pakistan is suddenly traveling to Mohali to watch a cricket match.  Pakistan is implicated in the terrorist attacks on Mumbai over Thanksgiving 2008 and the two longterm military rivals  have bristled at each other since.

But this is no ordinary sports event. In many ways cricket is India’s religion and today India more than the UK is global capital of this colonial creation. For my American readers Indians are more fanatical about cricket than Canadians about hockey and Los Angelenos about basketball; Cricket is more powerful in India than baseball, football, basketbal, golf, tennis and NASCAR put together. India is co-hosting World Cup Cricket and teams from 14  countries partipated. As of today, the only “white” county remaining among the final four is New Zealand.  Australa, England, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada and South Africa have fallen by the way side.

Pakistan faces India in the semi finals match on Wednesday, March 30th.  Little  work will get done in either country while the match is on. TV audiences far exceed the Super Bowl. The International Cricket Council has sold the rights for broadcasting of the 2011 Cricket World Cup for $2 Billion.  In India radio stations and cellular phone companies will make billions in advertising and texting revenue on that one day.

Passions run high and the gentlemanly traditions of  cricket have led to India’s Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh inviting his Pakistan counterpart  Yousuf Raza Gilani to attend.  Gilani’s immediate acceptance has many on both sides hoping that some kind of progress in peace talks between the two countries may also result.

A domestic battle is expected in Indian tennis star Sania’s Mirza’s family  this week. She supports India while her Pakistani husband, former cricket captain Shoab Malik is supporting “his team. The couple are in Florida where Mirza tweeted news about the friendly tiff.  And Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday commuted  the remaining jail term of an Indian Gopal Das, languishing in a jail for the past 27 years.

Takeaway: You must understand the role of cricket in India whether in business or politics, if you wish to engage seriously.

Hundreds of millions of people in India will be glued to their televisions on Sunday night. But many won’t be watching the Oscars, even though musician A.R. Rahman (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) is a nominee for his score for 127 Hours. There are two competing activities that have Indians captivated.

AR Rahman at Asian Awards

February 27^th in Hollywood is already the 28^th in Asia and India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will release the Annual Budget for the Union Government, which becomes effect on April 1. With direct and indirect taxation playing such a major role in India’s economy, consumers’ well-being and business fortunes are influenced greatly by the changes in tax rates and allocations of expenditure. The final budget will be posted online at the same time as Mukherjee gives his budget speech before India’s Parliament.  Indians watch the budget news with much greater intensity than Americans watch the annual State of the Union address from the President and even the preparations for the budget speech are national news.

India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee

The second draw on television is India’s all consuming passion, the sport of cricket. The World Cup competition just started. In the city of Nagpur,in Central India, Zimbabwe will play Canada at 9:30 am Indian Standard Time, which is 8 PM on Sunday night in California. A few hours later the West Indies will square off against Ireland at New Delh’s Feroz Shah Kotla grounds. Despite the fact that these games are played during a working weekday, many Indians will receive regular SMS (text) updates on their cellphones; radios and TVs everywhere will be tuned to the right channels. Cricket will be the major topic of conversation until the final game is played on April 2 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

And who did you say won the Best Picture Award?

Takeaway: While Hollywood appears to unite the world and is certainly watched in India, there are many other forces at play in the Indian executive’s or consumer’s mind. Being aware of these forces makes it easier for you to succeed in business in India.

Indian historian Ramachandra Guha compares  the sport of cricket in India to soccer (football) in Brazil.  India’s  love affair is evident to even the casual American visitor; tt’s a game that’s enjoyed equally well on the streets of any city corner, as it is on the greens of cricket clubs that dot the city. I tell my American clients to imagine professional and college baseball/football/basketbal/hockey combined  in comparing the role of cricket in India to their own experience.

Youth playing cricket on Indian streets

Much has been written  on the political, social and even the economic bearing the game has on the country. So I can understand the excitement PepsiCo’s Gatorade Pacers’ announcement has generated. Gatorade Pacers is a program that helps identify and prepare five  “fast bowlers”  for the Indian Cricket team. (bowlers are the rough equivalent of baseball pitchers for my American readers, bowlers whose hallmark is speed of throw are called pacers, as distinct from “spinners” that can bowl curve balls or even “googlies”).  Those selected  travel to Dubai to train at the ICC Cricket Academy in a bid to outshine all others in the Gatorade Sweat Test.

The Gatorade Sweat Test claims  scientific backing; the program works with athletes to understand and develop a better hydration system, which in turn generates higher performance levels. Fans of the Gatorade Sweat Test include Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Brett Lee and Usain Bolt.

The five men selected – Barinder Singh, Abdul Baseer Mohammed, Gurudas Shenoy, Sukhvir Singh and Maninder Singh will spend 7 days in training under resident coaches Mudassar Nazar and Dayle Hadlee before practicing with teams from the Netherlands, Kenya, Ireland and Canada. The Gatorade Pacers program has been a smart move on the part of PepsiCo. Launched in 2007 and exclusive to India, the program has touched the nation where it matters most – on an emotional front. It has also provided over 20,000 aspirants the chance to become part of a very exclusive and much loved club.

PepsiCo entered the India in 1989 and has grown quite successful , with international brands including  Pepsi, Lay’s, Tropicana, Gatorade and Quaker, as well as  India-only  brands lsuch as  Nimbooz (a lemon drink)  and Kurkure (spicy fried and roasted snacks) .  Incidentally,  Pepsi India’s first CEO was my friend Micky Pant, who is mentioned in my book “Doing Business in 21st Century India” for his observations relating to Hindustan Lever.

If you deal with India, you must recognize the enormous cultural importance to the game of cricket. Even though field hockey is the national sport, cricket governs the Indian DNA.  Cricket followed the British Empire to Australia, to Sri Lanka, to Pakistan and to Australia and New Zealand of course. Lately India’s team has been performing very well, particularly against the  U.K.

So here’s how the Empire strikes back: by learning Kabaddi. This ancient India team sport is like “tag” and played on a volleyball sized court.  Here is a report from the Indian media site IBN Live about the UK Army learning Kabaddi.

Now that the former British Steel (Corus) is owned  by an Indian company and even the car that the Queen rides (Land Rover) are owned by the former colony, there’s got to be some equity somewhere .