Corporatization and the recent intensification of hyper-nationalism has robbed cricket of its spirit in India.
Soon after India lost to Pakistan in the inaugural match of the T-20 World Cup, the lone Muslim team member was trolled and blamed for India’s loss. Mohammad Shami, a world-class Indian bowler, got all hate from Indian nationalists.
While the cricketing community, including senior players, supported Shami, the spirit and the stature of what is called a gentleman’s game were smeared in the dust.
Shami is not the first nor the only Muslim cricket player in India who has faced such harassment. A few months ago, the official coach of Uttarakhand Cricket Team Wasim Jaffar was targeted for his Muslim identity. A player of the team had alleged that his selection of players was based on their religion and that that he used the dressing room to offer prayers or left the ground to offer Namaz in the middle of practice. Jaffar, who had a long and successful cricket career, resigned from the Uttarakhand Cricket Association soon after.
Caste representation and cricket have been subjects of debate for quite some time, but such religious bias and hatred in the game has attained prominence for the first time with the interference of right-wing ideology in liberal spaces.
A few years ago, Pathan brothers Irfan and Yusuf, sons of an Imam of a mosque, had glorious innings. In the past, the Indian team was led by a Muslim captain Mohammad Azharuddin. He had become a perfect choice for the selectors to settle the infighting between Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar.
Recalling the appointment of Azharuddin as the captain of the team, senior sports journalist and analyst Chander Shekhar Luthra explains, “At that time Raj Singh Dungarpur was heading the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He was tired of this fight between two senior players. It just happened that Dungarpur and Azharuddin met in some corridor and Dungarpur asked Azharuddin, ‘Miya captain banoge’ (Friend, would you like to become the captain?). To which Azharuddin had no answer but to nod his head and the rest is history.”
Luthra further added that at no time was any question raised on Azharuddin’s religion. A good player is a good player and that is enough to lead the team.
Muslims have always had some representation in the game as the Indian team has always reflected its diversity and has included players from Punjab to Bengal to the south.
It is often argued that players are like diplomats, who are like a mirror of a country’s culture, civilization and integrity. However, whenever the question of reservation in the Indian team has cropped up from time to time, the demands have always been ignored.
India’s Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale, whose party represents Dalits, had suggested that like the South Africa team selection process, there should be a quota system in the Indian team as well.
He even demanded establishing a special academy and reservation in state-level games. South Africa team has a fixed share of white and non-white players. This policy decision in South Africa was taken in the 1990s as a reform measure to end the racist system and to empower the non-whites and black players.
Interestingly, in India, the game of cricket perfectly suits the Brahmin customs. Unlike other games, in cricket players need not directly touch each other.
Historian Ramchandra Guha in one of his works has also recorded that several Dalit players were part of cricket when the game was introduced in the subcontinent.
The first important cricketer and famous bowler of undivided India, Palwanker Baloo was a Dalit and belonged to the chamar community, known traditionally for their leatherworks. Baloo used to work in the city’s gymkhana club in Bombay, where his talent was recognized by the British officers and they took him in the team. Baloo had played against the local Brahmin team.
Although he blended with other players on the field, he could not enter the dressing room or share meals with others. He was given tea in a separate pot and he carried his cup that he would get from home. His caste came in the way even when he deserved to be captain. Saying goodbye to the game, he was being defamed because of his caste and was not been judged by his cricket.
If caste and religious politics in Indian cricket was not enough, the corporatization of the sport has damaged whatever little cricket was left in the game. The players are no more judged by their talent, but also by their looks, their fan following and their command over the English language. If you are not presentable enough and carry your rural baggage, it is not your place.
“With domestic leagues, each player is an industry in himself worth several hundred crores. From brand endorsements to betting, cricket teams and players are into everything. There is hardly any cricket left in the game,” added Luthra.
And above all, with incidences like that of Mohammad Shami and Wasim Jaffar, the grace in the game is soon going to be extinct. The game that had connected with every Indian is soon moving in the pre-independence direction, when cricket lovers were associating themselves with hyper-local teams as Pasree League, Hindu League and not as Team India.
Soon after India lost to Pakistan in the inaugural match of the T-20 World Cup, the lone Muslim team member was trolled and blamed for India’s loss. Mohammad Shami, a world-class Indian bowler, got all hate from Indian nationalists.
While the cricketing community, including senior players, supported Shami, the spirit and the stature of what is called a gentleman’s game were smeared in the dust.
Shami is not the first nor the only Muslim cricket player in India who has faced such harassment. A few months ago, the official coach of Uttarakhand Cricket Team Wasim Jaffar was targeted for his Muslim identity. A player of the team had alleged that his selection of players was based on their religion and that that he used the dressing room to offer prayers or left the ground to offer Namaz in the middle of practice. Jaffar, who had a long and successful cricket career, resigned from the Uttarakhand Cricket Association soon after.
Caste representation and cricket have been subjects of debate for quite some time, but such religious bias and hatred in the game has attained prominence for the first time with the interference of right-wing ideology in liberal spaces.
A few years ago, Pathan brothers Irfan and Yusuf, sons of an Imam of a mosque, had glorious innings. In the past, the Indian team was led by a Muslim captain Mohammad Azharuddin. He had become a perfect choice for the selectors to settle the infighting between Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar.
Recalling the appointment of Azharuddin as the captain of the team, senior sports journalist and analyst Chander Shekhar Luthra explains, “At that time Raj Singh Dungarpur was heading the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He was tired of this fight between two senior players. It just happened that Dungarpur and Azharuddin met in some corridor and Dungarpur asked Azharuddin, ‘Miya captain banoge’ (Friend, would you like to become the captain?). To which Azharuddin had no answer but to nod his head and the rest is history.”
Luthra further added that at no time was any question raised on Azharuddin’s religion. A good player is a good player and that is enough to lead the team.
Muslims have always had some representation in the game as the Indian team has always reflected its diversity and has included players from Punjab to Bengal to the south.
It is often argued that players are like diplomats, who are like a mirror of a country’s culture, civilization and integrity. However, whenever the question of reservation in the Indian team has cropped up from time to time, the demands have always been ignored.
India’s Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale, whose party represents Dalits, had suggested that like the South Africa team selection process, there should be a quota system in the Indian team as well.
He even demanded establishing a special academy and reservation in state-level games. South Africa team has a fixed share of white and non-white players. This policy decision in South Africa was taken in the 1990s as a reform measure to end the racist system and to empower the non-whites and black players.
Interestingly, in India, the game of cricket perfectly suits the Brahmin customs. Unlike other games, in cricket players need not directly touch each other.
Historian Ramchandra Guha in one of his works has also recorded that several Dalit players were part of cricket when the game was introduced in the subcontinent.
The first important cricketer and famous bowler of undivided India, Palwanker Baloo was a Dalit and belonged to the chamar community, known traditionally for their leatherworks. Baloo used to work in the city’s gymkhana club in Bombay, where his talent was recognized by the British officers and they took him in the team. Baloo had played against the local Brahmin team.
Although he blended with other players on the field, he could not enter the dressing room or share meals with others. He was given tea in a separate pot and he carried his cup that he would get from home. His caste came in the way even when he deserved to be captain. Saying goodbye to the game, he was being defamed because of his caste and was not been judged by his cricket.
If caste and religious politics in Indian cricket was not enough, the corporatization of the sport has damaged whatever little cricket was left in the game. The players are no more judged by their talent, but also by their looks, their fan following and their command over the English language. If you are not presentable enough and carry your rural baggage, it is not your place.
“With domestic leagues, each player is an industry in himself worth several hundred crores. From brand endorsements to betting, cricket teams and players are into everything. There is hardly any cricket left in the game,” added Luthra.
And above all, with incidences like that of Mohammad Shami and Wasim Jaffar, the grace in the game is soon going to be extinct. The game that had connected with every Indian is soon moving in the pre-independence direction, when cricket lovers were associating themselves with hyper-local teams as Pasree League, Hindu League and not as Team India.