Answer:
(i)
The origins of Indian cricket are to be found in Bombay and the first community
to start playing cricket was the small community of Zoroastrians or Parsis.
(ii) They were closer to the British because of their interest in trade
and they were the first community to westernize. The Parsis founded the first Indian
Cricket Club, the Oriental Cricket Club in Bombay, in 1848.
(iii) Parsi clubs were funded and sponsored by Parsi
businessmen like the Tatas and the Wadias.
(iv) The White cricket elite in India offered no help to
the enthusiastic Parsis.
(v) In fact, there was a quarrel between the Whites-only
club of Bombay Gymkhana and Parsis over the use of a public park as the polo
ponies of the Bombay Gymkhana dug up the surface.
(vi) When it became clear that the colonial authorities
favoured the White elites, the Parsis built their own gymkhana to play cricket
in.
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