M.K. Gandhi & Indian Cricket

You can see M.K. Gandhi (seated 5th left, front row) with players and officials of the Greyville Indian Cricket Club, in South Africa (1913) in the picture.

Gandhi ji (Mahatma Gandhi) went to Natal in 1893 and spent the next two decades in South Africa. During this period he organized and led the Indian resistance to discriminatory racial legislation that was rampant in South Africa. What is less well-known about Gandhi ji - who had only a faint interest in sport during his time in India - is that he realised its value in reaching out to the diverse Indian community in South Africa. Interestingly, he is said to have been involved with two football clubs in Johannesburg and Pretoria. The accompanying photograph in the post shows Gandhi seated with players and officials of the Greyville Cricket Club in 1913, the same year that he organized a major workers’ strike in Natal. This photograph suggests that the future Mahatma did not ignore cricket for its impact to organise Indians together.

Mahatma Gandhi’s intriguing connection with Indian cricket (and football) in South Africa endured even after his return to India in 1915. In November 1921, there took place a fascinating sporting tour from South Africa to India. The idea for this tour is said to have first been mooted shortly after Mahatma Gandhi’s departure to India in 1915. Gandhi himself is said to have encouraged the tour following his encounters with students in different colleges in India, who were keen to meet South Africans.

The First World War put paid to these plans. But the project was revived after the war had ended, with men like C.F. Andrews and S.R. Bhagwat (general secretary of the Indian Olympic Association) taking a keen interest in it. In the words of Desai et al, ‘The purpose of the tour was sporting as well as to acquaint local Indians with the cultural richness of the “Motherland”.’ The touring party, which came to be known as ‘Christopher’s Contingent’ (after its prime mover, Albert Christopher), was made up of 12 Hindus and 5 Muslims, all of them South African-born Indians. The team visited Bombay, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Agra, Benares, Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and Poona. Importantly, during their trip to Ahmedabad, the team also called on Mahatma Gandhi, who spent some time with the players.

In all, the South African Indians played 14 football matches and two cricket matches in Calcutta. The sporting prowess of individual players like Billy Subban (who played cricket for Greyville Club) captured the Indian public imagination. On the team’s return, Albert Christopher told the audience at a welcome reception that the players had ‘shown to the Motherland that her sons away from home are doing everything to uphold its honour and ancient traditions’.