26/09/2020
Patiala, however, was waking up to a new reality. Thanks to the efforts of Rajindra – multiple historians have supported this notion through books and essays on the subject – cricket was a prime currency in the area. “The Maharajas of Patiala,” Boria Majumdar wrote in the Lost Histories of Indian Cricket: Battles Off the Pitch, “had taken to cricket patronage in the late 19th century to assert equality with the colonial masters. Maharaja Rajinder Singh initiated cricket patronage in Patiala, employing cricketers from across the country.”
SM Verma, a former professor of history at Punjabi University in Patiala, explained the genesis behind the sport’s birth and subsequent growth in the area. “You can call this the Mecca of cricket of North India,” he said. “The prince (Rajindra Singh) would often go and stay in Shimla. Over there, he watched people associated with the British army play cricket in a place called Annadale. That’s how he got fascinated with the game.”
Armed with more than a rudimentary knowledge of the game, Rajindra, with the help of Ranbir, started to popularise cricket in Patiala. They enlisted servants serving the royal family and split them into two teams. Captain Rajindra XI vs Captain Ranbir XI. But he wasn’t a satisfied man because they were playing in a small area. So, Ranbir was asked to construct a ground inside the premises. That’s how the cricket ground at Baradari (known later on as Rajindra Gymkhana) came into being.
With Patiala now a suitable place to host matches beyond those of the younger brother taking on the older, the Maharaja approached a group of Parsis for a clash. “In 1896 or 1897, a Parsi team was coming back from Shimla and they were asked to play a match in Patiala. A Maharaja XI vs Parsis XI was organised. That’s how one of the first matches came to be played in Baradari.”
