Answer:
The
first Indian community to start playing the game of cricket in India was the
small community of Zoroastrians, the Parsis.
(a) They came into close contact with the British because of their
interest in trade and were the first Indian community to i.e.. Westernise
themselves.
The Parsis founded the first Indian Cricket Club, the Oriental
Cricket Club, in Bombay in 1848.
Parsi clubs were funded and sponsored by Parsi businessmen
like the Tatas and the Wadias.
The Parsis built their own Gymkhana to play cricket.
A Parsi team beat the Bombay Gymkhana at cricket in 1889.
The establishment of the Parsi Gymkhana became a precedent
for other Indians who in turn, established clubs based on the idea of a
religious community.
(b) Mahatma Gandhi condemned the Pentangular Tournament as
a communally divisive competition that was out of place in a time when
nationalists were trying to unite India's diverse population into a cohesive force,
a force which would strengthen the National Movement.
(c) The name of the ICC was changed from the Imperial Cricket
Conference to International Cricket Conference as late as 1965. Till
then, it was dominated by its founding members, England and Australia, which
retained the Right to Veto its proceedings. This privileged position of England
and Australia was scrapped in 1989 in favour of equal membership of all the
Test playing countries. The ICC now becomes International Cricket Council (1989).
(d) The shift of the headquarters of the ICC from London to
Dubai took place because the technology of satellite television and the
worldwide reach of multi-national television companies created a global market
for cricket. Matches in Sydney can be watched live in Surat.
Since, India had the largest viewership for the game amongst
the cricket playing nations and the largest market in the cricketing world, the
game's centre of gravity shifted to South Asia.
This shift was symbolised by the shifting of the ICC headquarters
from London to tax free Dubai.
The shifting of the ICC headquarters from London to Dubai
marked the end of the Anglo-Australian domination over the game of cricket.
Note In the examination, this question will not be asked
completely, only its one or two sub-parts will be asked.
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