New Delhi: When England played India in a home game in the 2019 ICC World Cup at Birmingham, the English fans were outnumbered by fans wearing blue and supporting Virat Kohli’s men.
Though Eoin Morgan led the home side to end India’s unbeaten run in the tournament, the crowds and spectacle were remarkable. Former cricketers and game watchers pointed out that Birmingham has a high population of South Asians to highlight the massive support for the visiting team.
The overwhelming support base for the game in the Indian subcontinent is well-established in numbers as well. As per global market research conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the governing body of the game, of nearly over a billion fans of the game, 90 percent of them belonged to the Subcontinent.
An ESPNCricinfo report suggests that the number and segregation of fans in the subcontinent would go up if ICC conducted research among fans below 16 years of age.
And it is not just about fan following. There is virtually no team — be it traditional cricket powerhouses or associate nations — which do not have any subcontinent talent in their ranks.
From top teams such as England, Australia and New Zealand to associate nations such as the Netherlands in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023, all have players who have links to the subcontinent.
Subcontinent talents in World Cup
Two top sides and hot contenders of this ongoing World Cup — England and New Zealand — are relying heavily on talents from the subcontinent. In-form South Africa, which handed England their biggest defeat in one-day international (ODI) cricket, also have cricketers of Indian origin.
Defending champions England have Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid to take care of their spin bowling requirements. The duo — who have origins in Mirpur in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir — are important members of England’s limited-overs game setup.
Earlier this year, Moeen was lured by skipper Ben Stokes to come out of retirement from Test cricket to replace injured left-arm spinner Jack Leach in the Ashes. The off-spinner went on to take nine wickets and score 181 runs in the Test series.
Available only for limited-overs duty due to his weak shoulder, Rashid was at the heart of the white-ball revolution in English cricket envisaged by Eoin Morgan.
ESPNCricinfo profiled Moeen Ali as a role model for British Asians who raised the voice of multiculturalism in British cricket, which was a discarded subject in county cricket.
Another top team, New Zealand, have players of Indian origin. Rachin Ravindra, who was born to Indian parents in Wellington, now bats at the all-important number 3 for the Black Caps. He is touted as the next big thing in New Zealand cricket due to his all-round abilities with the bat and ball, a fact highlighted by a match-winning century against England at the World Cup.
Ish Sodhi, who was born in Punjab’s Ludhiana district, is the frontline leg spinner for the Black Caps. Since his debut in 2013, he has been with the side in one format or the other.
Likewise, South Africa are also reliant on talents of subcontinent origin for spin bowling, with the duo of Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi doing duties for the Proteas.
Toss news from Dharamsala 📰
South Africa win the toss and elect to bowl first 🏏#SAvNED 📝: https://t.co/T7rnUuIlaT pic.twitter.com/hPeO89sFW2
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) October 17, 2023
Among the associate nations, the Netherlands have four players of subcontinent origin in their World Cup squad. While opener Vikramjit Singh, batsman Teja Nidamanuru, and off-spinner Aryan Dutt have their origins in India, all-rounder Shariz Ahmad’s roots lie in Pakistan’s Lahore.
In arguably their biggest win so far in history when they defeated South Africa by 38 runs at Dharamsala, Dutt played some big shots (23 runs off 9 balls) at the end of the innings to take Netherlands to a fighting total of 245 runs.
“It is great to be at this World Cup in India. Of course, because my family comes from this country and cricket is so special here. The people love their cricket and are really nice to all of us. You can feel the respect and the love for cricket and the players. I started playing cricket at VCC in Voorburg in the Netherlands. My father and mother moved to the Netherlands a long time ago and I was born there,” Dutt told News18.
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Not limited to World Cup
Though Australia does not have cricketers with origins from the subcontinent in the World Cup squad, their batting in Test cricket is opened by Islamabad-born left-hander batsman Usman Khawaja.
In March, the opener stood like a rock on a featherbed in the fourth India-Australia Test to score a majestic 180 runs, ensuring a draw for his team.
During the all-important Ashes Test series in England, Khawaja scored a resilient 100 runs in the first innings and a solid 50 runs in the second innings to help Australia take a 1-0 lead.
He built on it with 77 runs of 187 balls to defy England at Lord’s. Australia took a 2-0 lead in the series while England won the third Test match. Australia retained the Ashes urn after the fourth Test ended in a draw.
No more the side when the Flower brothers flourished, Zimbabwe have Pakistan-born Sikandar Raza, who is a performer in all formats of the game. He bowls off-spin that has paid dividends for the side on conducive pitches, while his batting talent is a force multiplier for the team. His brilliant fielding makes him a mainstay for Zimbabwe since his debut in 2013.
Theme of past, present & future
Cricketers with origins in the subcontinent had earlier been part of past squads as well. Before Rashid and Moeen in the England cricket team, the likes of batting all-rounder Ravi Bopara, spinner Monty Panesar, and middle-order batsman Owais Shah also played significant roles for the Three Lions to have their influence on the game.
Panesar, who was born in Luton to a couple from Punjab, often took care as the lone spinner in both Tests and ODIs ever since his debut in 2006. This was until the emergence of fellow off-spinner Graeme Swann.
South Africa had master batsman Hashim Amla, who used to open in the limited-over internationals and batted at number three in Tests. Amla was born in Durban, while his grandfather migrated from Gujarat.
He was the top scorer for the Proteas in England in 2012 where he scored a sublime triple century at the Oval and followed it up with a masterful century at the Lord’s to help South Africa win the Test series by 2-1 and de-throning the hosts from number one position in ICC Test rankings.
The right-hand batsman had a good record against both seam and spin and formed the backbone of Graeme Smith’s world-beating Test side that had not lost a series anywhere in the world for more than a decade.
Amla was the quickest to reach 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, and 6,000 runs in ODIs. Together with Quinton de Kock, he formed a deadly partnership at the top of the order in the limited-overs version of the game.
Going by the likes of Amla and Panesar in the recent past and Rachin and Maharaj now, this theme of cricketers of subcontinent origin looks like it is here to stay
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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