Why Cricket Talent will always be Fully Subscribed in India

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Banjar Valley, Himachal Pradesh

April 19th 2014



“Cricket to us was more than play, it was a worship in the summer sun”
Edmund Blunden

“I tend to think that cricket is the greatest thing that God ever created on earth -certainly greater than sex, although sex isn't too bad either”
Harold Pinter



In India, the game of cricket is a passion (and as near to a religion on par with Hinduism as you will get - not to discount the fervour for other religions, but Hinduism is by far the largest religion and maybe also the most passionate – maybe). That is not to say that a Buddhist monk (for example) cannot be equally captured by this game (see picture).

This is of course a story with a very male-oriented focus. I am talking about male Indians. That is not to say that there is not a very good national Indian Women's Cricket Team, but I suspect their ranks are filled via exclusive top-end colleges as I don't see women being socially allowed to play in villages and the like.

When traveling in India, I need only to say I am from Australia and the conversation flowing from locals is immediately about “Ricky Ponting” or “Mark Waugh”. (For the uninitiated these are just two famous Australian batsmen and past captains of the Australian Cricket Team).

In recent times, it is India and Australia who joust for “Number one” in world cricket ratings, and any self respecting Indian lad will know exactly who is currently in that spot. They will also most likely recall any match between Australia and India in the last 10 years that you might want to bring up, including who played and won and what the statistics of the game was.

India is a nation of 1.4 billion people. Young boys aspire to become cricketers like their heroes in the Indian Cricket Team, who are rich and famous and lead a life they might only dream of.

And so, across the nation and in any context you might imagine, cricket is being played and played and played by young boys and men. To my amazement this includes high up in the Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh as well as down on the plains alongside the holy river Ganga. It is astonishing to witness the skill of these guys as they slug it out, sometimes on a patch of ground the size of a postage stamp, to wit: a terraced plot on the mountainside or a narrow piece of ghat next to the river.

In the mountains, where life is simple and hard, the equipment is usually hand-made: a bat roughly fashioned from a local log of pine, a ball crafted from strands of wool and twine, and stumps from sticks or rock.

Let the pictures tell their story. God help the other cricket playing nations!

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Comments

[Big Fella]

Better to have played cricket and lost than to never have placyued at all
Love the story and the photos. Can't believe where they play cricket !!!!!