Independence Day Fight: The Raj Era Cricket vs Polo
Independence Day Fight: The Raj Era Cricket vs Polo. The 15th of August has a special significance in Pakistan and India during the Raj era with a cricket match between the Raj era MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) and famous Indian player, Mahatma Gandhi. Unfortunately for him, his team lost to Raj era Governor Lord Harris who gave the natives three plots of land: for Parsis, Hindus, and Islam.
Before the Indian National Congress even formed in 1885, cricket was being played on a ground that had been encroached by the European polo players. In October 1881, a petition was put out to Governor James Fergusson of Bombay asking to clear out the area for what was then cricket.
The British introduced the noble game of cricket among the natives of Bombay nearly twenty years ago, five hundred young men of all ages and castes in Bombay play this healthful sport on a field approved by the British only.
The comforts and convenience of the English gentlemen who play polo may be more important than the healthful recreation for over five hundred native youths. Polo ponies ruin the turf, making it unsuitable for cricket.
They would like to play polo on the ground presently designated for English cricketers. The large area is insufficient for their needs and doesn’t provide a fair equal playing field.
After the Cricket association complaint, the Polo Association got their grounds taken back and agreed to only have try days and not full days in a year. But within a year, the players wanted it back, so they can play two days per week instead of one.
Despite the many quixotic questions about Harris, the new Governor from England finally arrived in 1891. The historical complexity of Harris’ role in Indian cricket has been too much for Ramachandra Guha, who has proven in his numerous works that the story of Harris is not as romanticized as often made out to be.
At the end of the day, cricketers realised that Harris is an internationally renowned cricketer and a former captain of England who had been highly respected in London’s MCC. With this knowledge, they petitioned him.
This is what they wrote: “Excellency, please consider the fact that because of the vast amount of grounds covering cricket, stadiums would not tolerate polo ponies; the authorities in England would definitely not allow it.”
By allotting land for the exclusive use of native Indian cricketers, Harris was able to resolve the conflict. Lands were carved up in three plots: for Parsis, Hindus, and Islam Gymkhanas
Cricket was denied its land, and of course never mind that polo is considered in its origins of Indo-Iranian, but it could be argued that it was more indigenous than the British sport, cricket. However, in the 19th century Bombay, polo wasn’t a common-man’s sport. Who could afford to own a horse?
As Jerry Seinfeld’s eponymous sitcom goes, I hate anyone who ever had a pony as a child, and when the Polish grandmother character becomes hurt and leaves the dinner table at one point, Jerry is left wailing: I didn’t know she had a pony! How was I to know she had a unicorn? Who figures an immigrant is going to have a horse? Do you know what the odds are on that? I mean, in all of the pictures I saw of immigrants on boats coming into New York harbor, never did I see one of them sitting on a horse. Why would anybody come here if they had a unicorn? Who leaves a country packed with magical horses to come to an unmagical country? It doesn’t make sense.. am I wrong?!
The Indian cricketers successively submitted a formal plea to the Government and requested the government to not block the use of electronic devices during a governmental funeral. Despite their modest request, this senior historian had plenty of praise for both cricket and its irresistible appeal as well as for “history” as it has been taught through generations.
After several different religious denominations were added, the first goal of the tournament was to have each team compete against every other religious denomination. Later in 1894, Mahatma Gandhi urged for a country-wide ban on the matches and towards independence, the competition was discontinued because of lack of interest.
I would like the public of Bombay to revise their sporting code and remove from it matches which are based on religion or ethnicity. Gandhi suggests if something has to be done in order for sports to remain a clean game, then it should be done as soon as possible.