Any World Cup or Olympics acts as an enormous advert for the host nation.
Qatar in 2022, France recently — and again next year when the Summer Olympics takes place in Paris. The Russians used the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 and the Football World Cup in 2018 to elevate their and Vladimir Putin’s global status.
The politicians don’t shy away from the attention such events garner, especially as they can use it to paint themselves in the friendliest hue.
The citizens of the host country are generally happy to welcome the world and show the best of themselves and their country.
Cricket and the Cricket World Cup are different because this isn’t an enormous global gathering taking place in India.
Just 10 nations playing a format whose popularity has diminished rapidly in the last decade are here.
The schedule for the event was announced so late — just three months before the first ball was bowled — that many supporters from the other competing nations didn’t bother booking a trip to follow their team.
Cricket owes the massive global viewing figures that the sport generates to India and its 1.4 billion people whose appetite for the sport is endless.
The World Cup isn’t drawing attention in mainland Europe, nor China, South or North America and even the rest of Africa beyond South Africa.
But it is an enormously important competition for India and for the political ruling class, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Narendra Modi.
Modi hasn’t been to a match yet, but his presence hangs over the World Cup.
South Africa face Afghanistan at the stadium named in Modi’s honour on Friday.
Naming a stadium, or building a road in honour of someone who is still alive, is achieving a unique level of conceit.
Throw in that the stadium is the biggest cricket venue in the world and — depending on who you listen to — the second biggest sports stadium in the world — a natural thought would be:
What are you compensating for?
The Narendra Modi Stadium is hosting five matches at the World Cup: the opening game, Pakistan vs India (one of the most watched sporting contests on the planet), England vs Australia (the oldest rivalry in the sport) and the final on November 19.
South Africa vs Afghanistan really sticks out in that kind of company, but here we are — maybe they wanted to make David Miller, much loved in these parts for his role in helping the local Gujarat Titans win the IPL last year, feel at home.
Placing the Modi stadium so centrally is indicative of how the World Cup is being used as a tool by the ruling party ahead of next year’s general election. A number of local social commentators have made the connection between the tournament, Modi, the elections and the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which runs the sport here.
The BCCI is packed with politicians, with the most prominent connection being Jay Shah, the BCCI’s secretary, who is the son of Amit Shah, the home minister, and Modi’s closest adviser.
This Indian team, which is crushing all before it at this home World Cup, is a dream for Modi and his party.
Their success, which has looked ever more likely the longer the tournament has run, will serve as a useful tool as the election campaign ramps up over the next few months.
If India do make it to the final on November 19, expect Modi to attend and to even hand the trophy to Rohit Sharma in the event of an India win.
The power of personality, so effectively used by Modi through numerous broadcasts of political rallies, or footage of him reading poetry, will increasingly take hold of this World Cup in its final week.
It may be a tiny portion of the world participating, but for its biggest participant and for the ruling politicians, the free publicity is invaluable.
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