Cricket remained a colonial game. It was its colonial oddness that made it difficult to be accepted by other people.
It was played in colonies by the white settlers or the local elites who wanted to copy their white masters. This game became very popular in the Caribbean.
Success in cricket became a measure of racial equality and political progress.
Through the early history of Indian cricket, teams were not organised on geographical principles and it was not till 1932 that a national team was given the right to represent India in a test match.
Cricket, Race and Religion
The first Indian club, the Calcutta Cricket Club, was established in 1792.
The first Indian community was to play cricket were the Parsis.
They founded the first Indian Cricket Club, the Oriental Cricket Club in Bombay in 1848.
This became a precedent for other Indians who in turn established clubs based on the idea of religious community.
By the 1890s there was the talk of a Hindu Gymkhana and Islam Gymkhana.
The colonial government encouraged communal clubs and institutions.
Cricket began to be organised on communal and racial lines.
This was Quadrangular tournament because it was played by 4 teams — Europeans, Parsis, Hindus and Muslims.
Later it becomes Pentangular when a fifth team was added namely the Rest.
By 1930s and 1940s many people including India’s most respected political figure, Mahatma Gandhi, condemned the Pentangular for dividing India on communal lines.
