Cricket In Colonial Bombay, Old Photo 1910
Old 1910 photo of a game of cricket in progress in Bombay, now Mumbai. A small crowd seemed to be engrossed watching a game of cricket. The ground is possibly Azad Maidan or the Bombay Gymkhana ground not entirely sure which. In the background is the Victoria Terminus and the Municipal Corporation building.
Seated in the foreground are the team participants anxiously looking on. Notice the array of aerated and non-aerated drinks. The games introduced into colonial India were tennis, football, badminton, hockey, etc. And almost all of them were introduced either by the British Army or the Navy personnel.
Likewise was the case of cricket which was first played by British sailors working in the East India Company in Kutch in 1700. It picked up steam by 1721 when the first match was played in Kutch. These are as per reports of some Britishers who worked in the East India Company.
By 1792 a cricket club was formed in Calcutta (Kolkata) and a second one was formed in 1799 at Seringapatam (Karnataka). In time cricket became popular in India and more clubs were opened in colonial Bombay, Madras, Bangalore, and so on. So much so that today it is the most watched game in India out of all sports. For the uninitiated, the Victoria Terminus is known as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (a railway terminus). The Municipal Corporation is known as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the city’s civic organization. Click on the photo for better view.
Did you know- the Parsis were the first of the Indians to take to cricket.
From the collection- Vintage Oleograph Raja Ravi Varma “Vishnu On Sheshnag”., Taj Mahal From River Yamuna Side – Old Photo 1865., 1948 Mumbai Great Cyclone – Two Old Newspaper Pages., Ooty Train Over The Wellington Viaduct – Old Postcard 1909.
