蜜芽传媒

India's most popular sport is cricket but surprisingly, that is not the sport that is trending in India at the moment.

Instead everyone is talking about Badminton.

India won the Badminton team world championships for the first time at the weekend beating 14-time champions Indonesia in the Thomas Cup Final, which took place in Bangkok, Thailand.

It's front and back page news in India, with the manager of the Indian badminton team Vimal Kumar comparing it to India's first cricket world cup win in 1983, which saw cricket's success skyrocket in the country.

But are young fans ready to swap the hardball for a shuttlecock?

Arani Basu is a sports journalist at the Times of India and he spoke to Newsday, saying: "Cricket has been in our veins - but the people have been craving for more, something new to look forward to, and we need stars at this moment. The Olympics have happened, and badminton has been making a headway for a decade now. So this is when we get a proper tournament, we win a tournament, we are champions of the world. We're getting new stars here, and we like to have stars around. So as a sporting nation, it's a huge step for us."

(Photo Credit: Shi Tang/Getty Images)

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