Religion was once inseparable from Indian cricket
All kinds of exchanges take place between players on a cricket field: banter, jokes, sledging, abuse - even fisticuffs as happened between Dennis Lillee and Javed Miandad in 1981-82. But hard-selling religion, as Ahmad Shezad did to Tillekaratne Dilshan last week, must be a first.
To be fair, not enough is known what triggered the Pakistan batsman’s seemingly bizarre byplay with Dilshan. Was this childish impertinence, attempt to proselytize or a personal conversation between two players who know each other well, as Shehzad has claimed, is difficult to decipher from the footage.
What is known, however, is that Shehzad could be held guilty of a Level 3 offence under the ICC Code of Conduct. “Using language or gestures that offends race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin”, says the Code, is punishable with a ban of 2-4 Tests or 4-8 ODIs.
That said, it’s not that religion hasn’t played a part in cricket. The Triangulars, Quandrangulars and Pentagulars of Bombay in pre-Independent India (between 1907 and 1945) were in fact drawn up strictly on communal lines.
The most famous of these, Quandrangulars, had teams representing Hindus, Parsis, Muslims and Europeans. While caste and race differences were more or less subdued in team selection, religion was integral.
This caused a vexing problem in 1924 when the Hindu Gymkhana cancelled their invitation to P A Kanickam of Bangalore to play for them on discovering he was a Christian. Kanickam could obviously not play for the Parsis or Muslims, and with Europeans not accepting Indians he was left floundering.
It was only in 1937-38, when the Pentagulars began that Buddhists, Christians, Jews and other religious denominations found a team to play for. This was called The Rest, and indirectly indicated either their meagre populations and/or low clout in the Indian polity.
For all the popularity of the Triangulars, Quadrangulars and Pentagulars – even the Ranji Trophy when it started in 1934 paled in comparison -- there was constant concern that it fostered communalism.
Mahatma Gandhi was the leading votary against these tournaments given the political volatility in the country at the time. Some difficult years compelled cancellation of a tournament. Finally, in 1946, the Pentangulars were scrapped forever.
Racial rather than religious discrimination was cricket’s big problem after World War ll, notably with South Africa practicing apartheid till they were thrown out of the ICC in 1970. Their return to the fold in 1991 saw the sport getting secularized in all facets.
Almost every top team in cricket today is either multi-religious, multi-racial or both. Currently, only Pakistan doesn’t have a player from a religion other than Islam which perhaps reflects its social fabric, not intent.
Danish Kaneria, a Hindu, played in the national team till a few years ago and star batsman Mohammed Yousuf was a Christian and played as Yousuf Yohana till he converted.
Yet Shehzad’s zealousness perhaps reflects the cultural change that has taken place in Pakistan cricket, of which there have been many critics, notably Shoaib Akhtar who denounced this unequivocally in his autobiography `Controversially Yours’.
Interestingly, the only ordained clergyman to have played at the international level was Reverend David Sheppard of England; afine bat who could have even captained his side had he not divided his time between cricket and religion.
My favourite story of the Reverend comes from England’s tour of Australia in 1963. He was not in very good form especially where fielding was concerned, dropping several catches which cost his team dear - and led to a lot of mirth too.
After he had muffed another sitter, suffering fast bowler Fred Trueman reportedly told him, ``Pretend it’s Sunday Reverend and keep your hands together.’’
More tellingly, when an Australian couple asked Sheppard to christen their baby, Mrs Sheppard advised them against it saying he was bound to drop it!
Shortly after, the good Reverend lost his place in the side. Moral of the story is that in sport as in life you can be in heaven or roast in hell-fire depending on your actions.
God is quite content to watch the consequences.
To be fair, not enough is known what triggered the Pakistan batsman’s seemingly bizarre byplay with Dilshan. Was this childish impertinence, attempt to proselytize or a personal conversation between two players who know each other well, as Shehzad has claimed, is difficult to decipher from the footage.
What is known, however, is that Shehzad could be held guilty of a Level 3 offence under the ICC Code of Conduct. “Using language or gestures that offends race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin”, says the Code, is punishable with a ban of 2-4 Tests or 4-8 ODIs.
With no official complaint against him yet, it remains to be seen how the Pakistan Cricket Board, which has promised action, views Shezad’s advice to Dilshan to choose between `heaven or hell’.
That said, it’s not that religion hasn’t played a part in cricket. The Triangulars, Quandrangulars and Pentagulars of Bombay in pre-Independent India (between 1907 and 1945) were in fact drawn up strictly on communal lines.
The most famous of these, Quandrangulars, had teams representing Hindus, Parsis, Muslims and Europeans. While caste and race differences were more or less subdued in team selection, religion was integral.
This caused a vexing problem in 1924 when the Hindu Gymkhana cancelled their invitation to P A Kanickam of Bangalore to play for them on discovering he was a Christian. Kanickam could obviously not play for the Parsis or Muslims, and with Europeans not accepting Indians he was left floundering.
It was only in 1937-38, when the Pentagulars began that Buddhists, Christians, Jews and other religious denominations found a team to play for. This was called The Rest, and indirectly indicated either their meagre populations and/or low clout in the Indian polity.
For all the popularity of the Triangulars, Quadrangulars and Pentagulars – even the Ranji Trophy when it started in 1934 paled in comparison -- there was constant concern that it fostered communalism.
Mahatma Gandhi was the leading votary against these tournaments given the political volatility in the country at the time. Some difficult years compelled cancellation of a tournament. Finally, in 1946, the Pentangulars were scrapped forever.
Racial rather than religious discrimination was cricket’s big problem after World War ll, notably with South Africa practicing apartheid till they were thrown out of the ICC in 1970. Their return to the fold in 1991 saw the sport getting secularized in all facets.
Almost every top team in cricket today is either multi-religious, multi-racial or both. Currently, only Pakistan doesn’t have a player from a religion other than Islam which perhaps reflects its social fabric, not intent.
Danish Kaneria, a Hindu, played in the national team till a few years ago and star batsman Mohammed Yousuf was a Christian and played as Yousuf Yohana till he converted.
Yet Shehzad’s zealousness perhaps reflects the cultural change that has taken place in Pakistan cricket, of which there have been many critics, notably Shoaib Akhtar who denounced this unequivocally in his autobiography `Controversially Yours’.
Interestingly, the only ordained clergyman to have played at the international level was Reverend David Sheppard of England; afine bat who could have even captained his side had he not divided his time between cricket and religion.
My favourite story of the Reverend comes from England’s tour of Australia in 1963. He was not in very good form especially where fielding was concerned, dropping several catches which cost his team dear - and led to a lot of mirth too.
After he had muffed another sitter, suffering fast bowler Fred Trueman reportedly told him, ``Pretend it’s Sunday Reverend and keep your hands together.’’
More tellingly, when an Australian couple asked Sheppard to christen their baby, Mrs Sheppard advised them against it saying he was bound to drop it!
Shortly after, the good Reverend lost his place in the side. Moral of the story is that in sport as in life you can be in heaven or roast in hell-fire depending on your actions.
God is quite content to watch the consequences.
