Outlook – July 06, 2019

by Alam Srinivas

T

HE Untold History of the First

All-India (Cricket) Team, which

toured England in 1911, is a nar­

rative of the game’s contr­

oversial, conflicting and contra­

dic tory relationship with

col o nia lism, nationalism, communal­

ism, commercialism and caste/class

differences. The composition of the

team is revelatory. An elitist, Maharaja

Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, led the

team for reasons that didn’t include

cricket. The original 16 was chosen

along communal lines—apart from a

Sikh skipper, there were seven Parsis,

four Hindus (later five), and four (later

three) Muslims. Among Hindus were

three Brahmins and two Dalits, Pal­

wankar Baloo and his brother, Shivram.

For the colonisers, the aim of the tour

was to inculcate Western ideals and val­

ues in the ‘orientals’ through cricket. As

nationalist feelings turned radical/armed

revolutionary, the rulers perceived that

the gentleman’s game could bring ‘natives’

closer. Cricket was seeped in ‘benevolent

paternalism’ and ‘Britannic nationalism’.

Some Indians “sought to promote a reas­

suring image of India in Britain” in times

of “intense mutual antipathy and antago­

nism”. Others thought in nationalistic

terms—what if the browns could beat the

whites at the latter’s game?

Such feelings resonated and echoed as

Indians adopted the game in the 1850s

and form the basis of Prashant Kidambi’s

Cricket Country. From the late 1870s, the

Parsis, who were the first to become exp­

ert cricketers, began to win against Eng­

lish clubs in Bombay. After the English

66th Regiment lost to Parsi Cricket Club

in 1877, the “defeated soldiers lashed out

at the Parsi spectators” by “wielding their

belts”. The Parsi and other Indian com­

munities savoured such victories as

natio nalistic wins, feeling “equal, if not

superior” to the English.

As Parsi domination continued, domes­

tic cricket evolved on communal lines

with the emergence of Hindu Gym khana

and Islam Gymkhana in Bombay. Com­

munal tensions were visible when these

teams played each other, and were inter­

spersed with nationalism when one of

them won against an English team. Many

felt that the 1911 tour would enhance fee ­

lings of Indian­ness, and dil ute commu­

nal disharmony. A letter writer rem arked,

“In an eleven consisting of Hindus, Parsis,

and Moslems, each one will instinctively

feel that he is an Indian first, and a mem­

ber of their race afterwards.”

Within the religious divide, caste and

class played a definite role. Kidambi notes

that the educated middle class and the

elite (including Indian and princes) were

the “principal adherents of the game”.

Educational institutions that imp arted

Western teaching popularised cri cket too.

This explains why more than half of the

1911 team hailed from Bombay, which had

an “extraordinarily dense network of

(British­style) institutions”. Given such

roots, it was almost logical for the game to

become a prism through which “Hindu

society was forced to reassess the insidi­

ous effects of the caste system”.

At the heart of this caste debate was one

of the country’s best cricketers, Baloo

Bahaji Palwankar, a Dalit spinner, and his

two cricketer brothers, Shivram and

Vithal. The fact that these untouchables

played for the Hindu and Indian teams

illustrated the “progress that had been

made in the cause of Hindu social reform”.

For critics, it highlighted the “deep­roo­

ted caste prejudices that defined Baloo’s

long cricketing career”. Initially, his team

members wouldn’t eat with him. Only the

efforts of the English, who appreciated

his skills, and intense public criticism,

forced his entry into the Hindu team.

Princely politics was enmeshed with

cricket when the Indian Rajas realised its

benefits. This was epitomised by Ranjit­

sinhji, who became the Nawab of Nawa­

nagar only because of his legendary

exp l oits in England. The captain of the

1911 side, Bhupinder Singh, initially ref­

used to travel, but changed his mind. The

reason: his belief that through cricket, he

could reach out to British officials in Eng­

land, who could overrule their offi cers in

India, who were apprehensive about the

Raja’s character and ability to rule. Singh

hardly played cricket on tour and success­

fully networked with key bureaucrats.

From the beginning, commercialism

went hand­in­hand with cricket. The

1911 team was partly financed by the Tata

Group, which funded Mahatma Gandhi’s

struggles in South Africa and the Indian

nationalist movement. Among the earli­

er Parsi patrons were businessmen like

Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney. Hin­

dus and Muslims had their backers—

Guj arati traders and Khoja entrepre­

neurs. The English aristocracy hosted

the 1911 team and the earlier all­Parsi

teams that travelled to England. British

governors, soldiers, journalists and pub­

licists pushed for the 1911 tour. In ess­

ence, the first all­Indian team marked

the culmination of several social, politi­

cal, economic, and cultural factors. O

Still, Baloo Spun It Square

The first cricket tour of England by an Indian team in 1911 reflected the

zeitgeist—the constrasting pulls of nationalism and religious/caste identities

booksPrashant Kidambi

Cricket Country: The Untold History of the First All India Team | Penguin | 446 pages | Rs 599

Communal tensions were

visible when the religion-

based teams played each

other. Many felt the 1911

tour would enhance

Indian-ness and dilute

communal disharmony.

62 OUTLOOK 8 July 2019