Tag: history

Gymkhana is usually a place of assembly. In earlier days, cricket was played based on communal classes. Few communities had their respective cricket clubs or gymkhanas. Some of them were Hindu gymkhana, Muslim gymkhana and Parsee gymkhana . These were located in Mumbai. Among the given options  Sikh gymkhana did not exist.

Mahatma Gandhi supported Kushti as it is not played on basis of communal divisions. This is an Indian based wrestling sport in which physical strength of participants are tested. It has been in practice since ancient times of Indian history.

A Parsi team beat the Bombay Gymkhana at cricket in 1889, just four years after the foundation of the Indian National Congress in 1885, an organisation that was lucky to have amongst its early leaders the great Parsi statesman and intellectual Dadabhai Naoroji. 

The colonial sport, pentangular tournament was cricket which was played based on communal divisions during British rule in India. The teams contained in this cricket were the Europeans, the Parsis, the Hindus, Muslims and the rest of other communities were included under fifth team.

The white cricket elite in India offered no help to the cricket enthusiastic Parsis. In fact, there was a quarrel between the Bombay Gymkhana, a whites-only club, and Parsi cricketers over the use of a public park. When it became clear that the colonial authorities were prejudiced in favour of Englishmen, the Parsis built their own gymkhana called the Oriental Cricket Club in Bombay to play cricket.

Polo was a game invented by colonial officials in India and soon gained great popularity. Unlike cricket which came to India from Britain, other games like polo were exported from the colonies to Britain, changing the nature of sport in that country. 

The origins of Indian cricket, that is, cricket played by Indians are to be found in Bombay and the first Indian community to start playing the game was the small community of Parsis. Brought into close contact with the British because of their interest in trade and the
first Indian community to westernise, the Parsis founded the
first Indian cricket club, the Oriental Cricket Club in Bombay in 1848.

In 1788, the MCC published its first revision of the laws and became the guardian of cricket’s regulations. The MCC’s revision of the laws brought in a series of changes in the game that occurred in the second half of the eighteenth century. 

Tournament during colonial period was called Quadrangular cricket.The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, India from 1912 to 1936. The communal teams contained in this cricket were the Europeans, the Parsis, the Hindus, Muslims. It was also called as colonial cricket.