A Day Off for Cricket in the Early Days of the Republic | Sreejith K

The year India turned republic, by around this time when winter had set in, things had begun to look up. The riots which rocked the nation in the aftermath of the partition had subsided, the displaced and the refugees had, for the most part, found temporary shelters, and the worst seemed to be over. Much serious work, of course, remained to be done. The five-year plans would be launched the next year, and so too the first general elections which would be completed only months later the following year. But as a couple of government circulars issued during this time and available on the Abhilekh Patal would suggest, amidst all these grim preoccupations, people still found time to indulge in sporting exuberance.

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Inspite of some initial misgivings amongst the leaders of the newly independent nation, India would become part of the Commonwealth. Whatever the political implications of the decision, at a time the Board of Control for Cricket in India was at its infancy, and the team not yet at the level to compete with the best, it helped to keep the country alongside the elites in the sport, and partake, as a consequence, in exchange tours. On one such tour in 1950 by a Commonwealth team to the sub-continent, when an unofficial test match was played at Delhi in early November, the Secretary of the Delhi and District Cricket Association would write a letter to, amongst others, the Ministry of Home Affairs requesting the grant of leave for government employees interested in attending the match at the Feroz Shah Kotla where, he said, arrangements had been made to entertain thirty thousand spectators through the duration of the match. To buttress its case, the Association cited precedence, the cricket-loving staff of the Central Secretariat and other government offices in the capital as well as the fact that the President of the republic would be in attendance to inaugurate the match [1]. The Ministry, without any undue delay, would give the nod and issue a circular on 28th October, 1950 where it was stated that “employees of Government of India as can produce tickets of admission to the first Cricket Test Match between the Commonwealth XI and India XI on the 4th November 1950, may be allowed to take a day off subject to the exigencies of office. They may also be allowed to leave office in the afternoons of the 6th, 7th and 8th November 1950 [5th being a Sunday], subject to the same condition, provided that the match lasts all these days.” [2] In the event, the match played out to a dull draw, but those who took the trouble to go to the stadium were fortunate to catch, in the early winter sunshine of Delhi when the AQI levels had not quite risen to the levels it would three quarters of a century later, glimpses of the brilliance of Frank Worrell who captained the side in this particular match, the unfathomable spin of Sonny Ramadhin which fetched him four wickets in the first innings, and a fine century in the second by Vijay Hazare, the Indian batsman.

In the letter pad on which the secretary of DDCA sent the aforementioned letter, the sender’s address was Feroz Shah Kotla’s pavilion named after Willingdon, the one-time Viceroy and ex-Sussex captain. The pavilion was the handiwork of the ex-Maharaja of Vizianagaram, who, at a time when the princely states co-existed with British India, by keeping the viceroys in good humour and sponsoring players, once crept into the national cricket team and manipulated his way into becoming its captain. But the days of the princes were now over, and players had to find new sponsors. And in the years immediately after independence, with the full professionalization of the game and IPL auctions still many decades away, it was left to the government and public sector undertakings to provide employment to them.

Once employed, however, availing leave in order to practise and even for playing in matches was not always easy. Taking cognizance of this issue, in late 1951, the BCCI, a few months before a Test series with England was to begin, dispatched a letter to the Chief Secretary to the State Government at Madras, one of the venues for the test matches, requesting the authorities there to grant leave to the players and umpires (who would be ‘competent’, the mail emphasised, “so that the reputation of India is enhanced”) selected to play a part in the match [3]. The Madras government, in turn, got in touch with the Ministry of Home Affairs at the centre asking whether in such cases ‘duty leave’ can be approved, and if so, to issue a circular applicable to all states [4]. The latter, after due consideration, concluded that a Government employee who is absent from his work cannot be treated as ‘on duty’, but, nevertheless, in a communique to the Madras government - with copies sent to all other states – made it clear that “a player or umpire selected for international matches should be granted ‘Special Casual Leave’ which will not be debited against any other leave of his [5]. The ensuing cricket series ended in a stalemate with India recording their first-ever test win in the last match at Madras by over an innings. Over the years, to dilute the bitter taste of defeat by an ex-colony, English commentators would point to the fact that theirs was only a second-string side with the best players unavailable, the death of their king on the very first day of the match, and of course, the poor food in the sub-continent until many years later they would get used to more such beatings.

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Cricket has come a long way since the inception of the Indian republic all those years ago. The commonwealth, like the English monarch still meander along, but few take them seriously, anymore. As the BCCI struts around the cricket world, flexing its financial muscles, white players, amongst others, from across the globe, no longer worried about Delhi belly, turn up to play for IPL teams even if it means giving up on their international careers. Post-professionalization, Indian players do not need to take permission from any employer to go out and play, and since most of these matches are played at night, the office-goer, as well, who wants to watch it does not need to take a day off. A far cry indeed from not so long ago when some of the most important decision-makers in the central and State governments as well as the office-bearers of the BCCI, on the eve of an English tour, were busy exchanging urgent letters to ensure that players selected to represent the Indian team were allowed, literally, to have their day in the sun.

(Author: Sreejith K, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Government College, Kolkata)