Question

what role did religion and politics play in the development of cricket in India

Answer 1

The development and promotion of cricket culture in India has been a fascinating journey, reflected beautifully by the contrasts drawn from different aspects of social life. This can be attributed to the fact that the game which was inherited by Indians from the English became so engraved and deep rooted in the blood of Indians.However, this inheritance did not come easy. Under colonial rule, a diverse country like India had to face obstacles in the form of caste, race and religion barriers which essentially proved to be the essence of the development of cricket culture in India.Cricket is recorded as having been played in India as early as 1721. The British soldiers used to play it among themselves in their bungalows and in their cantonments as a leisure activity. The Parsi community of Bombay was the first one to take on the game in India which was then joined by other communities, such as Hindus, who started playing in a spirit of competitive communalism since they had a long running rivalry with the Parsees.