Cricket is a religion in India. Whenever there is a game, millions of people across the country are glued to their screens. It’s a game where reason and rationality are left far behind. Cricket matches, particularly the Indian Premier League (IPL), are now as much a part of India’s national consciousness as it is a commercial extravaganza.
Traditionally, cricket has been viewed as a phenomenon untouched by the problems of Indian society. While this portrayal may be comforting, in reality, the sport is not isolated from the social, economic, political, and cultural context in which it is situated. As the former Indian captain, Rahul Dravid said in a 2011 interview:
the Indian team represents, more than ever before, the country we come from—of people from vastly different cultures, who speak different languages, follow different religions, belong to different classes.
Almost a century before Dravid spoke of the Indian Cricket team, the first cricket team to represent India made its debut on the greens of imperial Britain. This historic venture featured an eclectic mix of personalities. The captain of the team was Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, a nineteen-year-old prince, newly enthroned ruler of the most important Sikh state in colonial India.
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