Is India wasting money in Cricket?

I think "YES"!

I know many "die-hard" fans of Cricket in India will burn me alive for this statement! :-)
But actually, I think yes! India is wasting money on Cricket!

Cricket is not even our National Game. We got it from England and we are focusing so much of valuable resources on it! When we say there are many Indians without food, shelter, proper clothing, etc., then why should we "waste" money in Cricket? That too when we dont win all the time! Oh yea of course I know that India won Australia in recent matches and thats what many Indians are proud of now..

But, my question is does China play Cricket? Japan? Those are making economic progress like anything! Aren't they? Why are we wasting so much money on a 'game'? that too of 'Foreign Origin'? Oh yea, we always welcome everything and encourage everything! But we should first see whats more important! Food or entertainment? Economy or world cup?

I am really wondering does Cricket give some kind of revenue to our Country? Anything to do with our progress in Economy? Even if its going to do so, say, by these advertisements, etc., I 'feel' that if we calculate the total amount of money spent in preparation for these matches, in coaching the players, in traveling, etc., etc., would exceed the amount gained.

Of course, there are some good 'side-effects' because of cricket like providing employment to many people who are involved. Again, when considering the bad side-effects like
1. Ppl wasting lot of time in watching these matches.
2. Productivity of working ppl is reduced during cricket matches since they constantly go out for checking scores.
3. Cricket fans getting too much involved in the matches and attempting suicide or things like that..
and so on, again I am drawn towards the conclusion that Cricket is waste of time and money.

Yes of course, its a means of entertainment and people do need entertainments for a peaceful and enjoyable life. Actually, I am not totally against it. But I think its given more importance than what it really deserves!!

Its our responsibility to check whether its right or not when something is taking away a lot of our resources. We should be deciding what we want considering all the factors. And I think We don't need to give so much importance to Cricket when we have so many other burning issues which need immediate attention. We should have some focused strategy to improve our economy. A real focused one! Then only we can see immediate progress!