In November 2023 India was spellbound by the Cricket World Cup, held in ten venues across the country. Throughout this vast land, even its remotest parts, hundreds of millions of Indians celebrated their favourite sport, whose popularity far exceeds that of football. A lucky minority attended matches in person, but most Indians followed the exploits of their national team, captained by Virat Kohli, on subscription television channels.

Kohli, who is idolised like a Bollywood star, was everywhere on billboards and television programmes, and his fans seized any opportunity to show their devotion, as on 5 November, his birthday, when India defeated South Africa in Kolkata. Ecstatic supporters in the stands at Eden Gardens stadium waved a banner that read, ‘Virat, long life to the mother who gave birth to you’. Frenzied fans screamed ‘Happy birthday, King Kohli’ into TV cameras. There were close-ups of him signing autographs and greeting children, like a politician on a campaign. Images of Kohli mixing with the crowd played endlessly on Disney’s Star Sports 1 and 2, which broadcast the World Cup.

The day before, in Bangalore, capital of the southwestern state of Karnataka, huge queues had formed around Chinnaswamy stadium, where New Zealand were about to take on Pakistan. A tunic seller was loudly touting his wares, particularly NZ shirts. ‘What about Pakistan shirts?’ I asked. ‘I’m not allowed to,’ the youthful seller muttered, looking down. A bystander added: ‘I’m not for New Zealand or Pakistan. But I wouldn’t buy a Pakistan shirt. New Zealand’s very popular here.’ By implication, Pakistan isn’t.

Cricket originated in England in the 16th century and by the 18th century had become an aristocratic sport par excellence. ‘It is no exaggeration to suggest that cricket came closer than any other public form to distilling, constituting, and communicating the values of the Victorian upper classes in England to English gentlemen as part of their embodied (…)

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