Britishers use to play Cricket as an recreational activity. Onlookers gained interest in the sport & sought to copy what their rulers were doing.
Sir Dolab Tata formed the Parsee Gymkhana in the year 1884 & helped an all Parsee team to make the first ever tour of England In 1886. From the cricketing point of view, the tour of Parsees was a complete failure but from the historical point of view it was a huge milestone & the beginning of many more tours to come.
The Parsees overcomed from the disastrous defeat in their first tour & managed to send their team on tour for the second time in the year 1888.The effect of these two visits became
evident, when the first English team under the captainship of G. F. Vernon visited India in 1889. Lord Hawke followed suit and brought another team in 1892. For this there was an alarming lull till the end of the first decade of the new country, probably because of the absence of a central federal organization to control and organize such visits.
Divided by Religions united by Cricket
In Mumbai, Cricket gained more popularity, the main reason being the annual competitive festivity in the form of the famous Triangular and Quadrangular tournaments. The origin of the Triangular's could easily be traced to the Presidency matches played in Bombay annually between Parsees and Europeans. Lord Harris, who was Governor of the Bombay Presidency from 1890 to 1895 was to a great extent responsible for the inauguration of these matches, which were played from 1895 to 1906 in
Mumbai and Pune in alternative years. The Hindus entered the fray in 1907, to make the event Triangular and the Muslims joined in 1912 to make it Quadrangular.
Although communal in character, these tournaments never led to communal disputes. For 10 continuous days, it was a gala carnival and everyone, players and spectators alike, looked forward to the event with keen interest and great expectations. Cricket indeed became a religion itself.
