Political Role of Cricket in South Asia Between 1880-2005

Cricket was an influencing element in politics because, as visible in Document 4, the lower caste Hindu was allowed to play with the higher caste members. This shows how cricket has let caste mobility into the Hindu religion as well as politics. Reason being for this to happen was the fact that he was good at cricket, and the fact that this was in a newspaper gestures promotion of caste mobility. This also allowed British-Indian relations to ease. As seen in document 2, an Indian prince is invited to England to play cricket. Although it was written by an English newspaper, it could have been a propaganda invitation; nonetheless it was a kind gesture from a colonist country to an ex-colony. As pointed out in document 3, cricket was shown to unite people, as said by the English historian, the point of view could favor cricket as a tool to ease political and civil unrest.

Although cricket did manage to unite British Indian relations in a calm, beneficial manner, it has also been the cause of political rivalry. As displayed by document 1, although cricket helped ease some tensions, the British still take pride in victory against Indians. The petition in the document said that the Englishmen introduced cricket and now the Indians sabotage it and cause unrest. As seen in document 6, the rivalry atmosphere caused conflict when the Indians won, and the nationalistic tone of the document comes from the Indian and their victory over the English was the only thing they were allowed to compete against them in. This document shows how cricket became a political battle ground. It may not only have caused rivalry, but also the ability addresses the major political issues. As seen in document 10, cricket allows problems like water shorting and internal political conflict to be ignored, but as the chairman mentions, it is an issue that is greatly argued about, because he was the head of Cricket Board, he knew things were out of hand for the Indians, and that cricket cannot solve all political problems.

Lastly, cricket also played a major role in tensions between Pakistan and India, and between Hindu and Muslim people. As Ghandi points out, it is apparent to how religion has addressed a large part of the religious, political and social aspect through cricket. In document 8, Ghandi talks about how the teams were religious based and being an icon of peace and independence in India, he was sorry that this distinction was apparent. The religious segregation was a big problem, and it was completely unavoidable for competition. This can also be viewed in document 5, where the issue is addressed how a Pakistani leader hopes that if Muslims win, the Hindu wouldn’t become aggressive towards them, reason being the fact that there were still many Muslims in India. As document 9 mentions, it is clearly addressed that Hindu nationalists are displeased by the Muslim Indians cheering for Indian loss on the cricket field. As mentioned in document 7, the cricket field has become split religiously and become a spotlight that clearly showed political relations between Pakistan and India. An additional document would be helpful, one from a low-caste Indian point of view on cricket, who would give an outlook to how cricket really eased (or worsened) the lower member’s lives and gave an entire picture of how everyone was affected by it.

Cricket played a fundamental role in political relations between India and England, and India and Pakistan, proving a field where all could have a share of tensions on the field, but it’s a good alternative to actual conflict, and although the effect of it was not always positive, it is still a good way for rivals to compete in a friendly manner.

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