ReDmpTiON spEaKs ...

History of cricket in INDIA

A long time ago, there was a man … but he is not important.

A little time after that, the British came to India on the pretext of selling goods .After being allowed to stay and trade , they made a hole in the very plate they ate in .I know it must’ve been hard for them to eat without spoons in India hence the whole hole strategy . but again that’s not the point . They came , they saw and they conquered . Under the rule of the Britishers , the general public had nothing much to do , everything was being done by the British. They controlled the Industries, the government and the mass media . Some smart guy spread the idea that as they were sitting idle as it is , why not do something like overthrowing the government . Everyone was initially shocked , but having no better idea of their own , they joined in too. Soon the whole of India was gripped with the freedom struggle syndrome .

Now the British, as we all know, are cowards but smart cowards . They thought, the people want something to do, what better than a game that goes on for 5 days at a stretch and makes the player so tired and fatigued that they go straight to bed after finishing a day’s play , hence leaving them no time to think about anything else .But they didn’t want anyone to know about the games real purpose . So , they secretly ordered 22 cricket kits from England , some hats for the umpires , uniforms , stumps , bats made from the finest English willow and the best Yorkshire balls .

One fine day , when the cowherds were leaving for their daily time pass in the woods , they saw that a portion of the woods had been cleared , into a sort of oval shape and in the middle was brown patch with weird looking wooden protrusions .They were scared and ran back to their village to tell everyone about the strange sight . They thought that it was sign from the God’s of the imminent disaster . The village elder convened a meeting and ordered a group of 10 strongest men in the village to go have a look .

The villagers selected were sent off with “Tilaks “, “Aarti’s” and “Maala’s” . They approached the place cautiously. When they came to the clearing, they saw something very strange .

Their English masters were dressed in white, the clothes of mourning, two of them with weird looking things on their head which covered it entirely , a very different kind of “topi” than the ones they had seen before . Then they saw the weapon… It was a big block of wood with a handle to wield it . The non-topi master threw a “gola” at the topi waala master and the topi waala master used his weapon to save himself . The gola flew up in the air and was caught by another non topi waala master . Suddenly they they started shouting some chants and a big “hat” waala master pointed to the skies, as if drawing their attention to the God’s . The topi waala master then left the clearing shaking his head.

The villagers were the bravest in the entire region, they feared nothing , some of them had fought with tigers bare handed and killed it . But when it came to God, they were fearful. So they ran back to their village and recounted the entire tale. The village elders decided, it was time to go to the King, or Maharaja, as they liked to call him.

When the villagers told their tale to the Maharaja, He burst out laughing . The villagers were shocked but not surprised .The Maharaja was Gods emissary on earth, he would know things far beyond anyone’s imagination .So they politely asked him the reason for his laughing . He replied that the entire episode they described was of a game called cricket, which he had himself seen and played on one of his trips to England. In fact, he reasoned, it wasn’t unlike the native game of “gilli danda” which almost every child in the village played . The ball would replace the “gilli” , and the bat would replace the “danda” . The rules and timings, the scheduled breaks were all to make the game more organized , and to remind the Indians that the British did everything that the Indians did , and did it better .

The Indians took to the game like ducks to water. Very soon, every child and every adult was seen playing the game in various corners of the village and some even in the woods. Others hid in the bushes behind the clearing, to grasp the basics from the masters themselves. No one was spared from the fever and the passion to learn the game. Finally they had something worthwhile to do. They practiced fervently with just one aim in mind, to defeat the Masters at their own game, literally. They practice and practiced until one fine day they were ready.

They challenged the mighty British to a game of cricket, In the very clearing , they had first witnessed it . Rest they say is history …

The British were defeated .The clearing gave way to the monumental , Eden Gardens which still evokes the same passion as it did way back then . The plaques and sign boards still adorn the walls with the names of those 11 cricketers, who took on the mighty British .

Rumor has it , that the British left India , not at the insistence of Gandhi and his “vraths” and slogans of non-violence , or the aggressiveness of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose , but out of shame . Embarrassed , on losing the game which they had brought to the Indians , of which they had by far a lot more experience , of which they were the masters in the whole world . They left India .

The irony is obvious, the game brought to India by the British , to prolong their stay and make it more entertaining , led to their exit .

The British are long gone, but the game remains . The passion with which we follow it and the present state of Indian cricket , a sad reminder , that a lucky win here and there will get us the applauds and the cheers , but the fact remains , we will always remain the underdogs .

disclaimer : All of the above is a figment of my imagination