How India watched cricket before and after television

India vs Pakistan Test Series 1960-61 – Nari Contractor and Fazal Mahmood at the toss. (Source: ESPNCricinfo/Twitter)

The first four Test matches of Pakistan’s 1960-61 tour of India were all drawn. For the fifth, at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, India picked an VV Kumar, an uncapped Tamil Nadu leg-spinner who had been making waves in the domestic circuit.

India made 463 and, as was the norm, brought on their spinners early. Kumar finished with 5-64 — the second five-wicket haul by an Indian on debut since Mohammad Nissar’s 5-93 in India’s first ever Test match, in 1932.

Pakistan were bowled out for 286. Following on, they made 250 as Kumar got 2-68. India needed only 74, but there was hardly any time left in the match. While obviously happy with his performance, Kumar wanted something more. He wanted to watch his achievement.

Doordarshan had arrived in India about sixteen months ago, but live telecast — or even highlights packages — was out of the question. It was not until 1965 that India would have regular daily transmission, that too only in Delhi.

However, there used to be cameras during Test matches. The cricket was filmed, then edited and stitched together with other videos to form newsreels. Today’s readers may think of them as short documentaries on recent events.

These were shown just before movies in theatres. Kumar realised that his best bet to watch his dream debut was to get inside a theatre. He went to the Wellington cinema and bought a ticket for a rerun of the 1952 Dilip Kumar-starrer Daag. He saw what he wanted.

Newsreels date back to the late 19th century, and rose in popularity in the USA and the British Empire in the early 20th century. They were used as propaganda by various countries during the First World War. The idea caught on in India.

Bombay Talkies, the pioneering studio based out of Malad in Mumbai, had been founded in 1934. They decided to attract the cricket crowd. Their maiden release was Jawani Ki Hawa, in end-1935.

India had played only four Test matches until that point, but cricket was incredibly popular. The Bombay Quadrangular used to attract crowds by the thousands. To add to that, an Australian squad was also visiting India for four unofficial Test matches in the winter of 1935-36.

Ahead of the release, Bombay Talkies ran several print advertisements, claiming to have acquired the “exclusive rights of filming” both the Quadrangular and the match against the Australians at the Bombay Gymkhana.

Patrons of Jawani Ki Hawa got to watch highlights of the cricket, “accompanied by a running commentary throughout.” In his column, author Suvam Pal has credited Bombay Talkies for probably holding “the first ever broadcast rights in Indian cricket.”

For decades, newsreels used to be the only way the average Indian could watch video footage of cricket. Over time, these began to feature overseas cricket matches as well.

When India won their first Test match — and series — in England, in 1971, video footage of the triumph became part of newsreels at Indian theatres. For weeks, the historic moment used to receive tremendous applause from the audience.

By then, a pan-Indian revolution had been taking place. Garry Sobers’ West Indians had played Test matches at Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras on their 1966-67 tour of India, but it was during their tour match against the Indian Prime Minister’s XI at the Feroz Shah Kotla that history had been created.

This was the first cricket match to be telecast live on television in India, though only viewers in Delhi could watch it. When the Australians came over three seasons later, their Test match at the same venue was telecast live — once again, only in Delhi.

As an outcome of a long negotiation, the Delhi Cricket Association were paid Rs 1,500 a day for the match.

By now, other cities had also found out about this new method of following cricket. All India Radio transmitted cricket live, but only the audio commentary. Newsreels had the video, but it was not real-time. Television offered both, and was a clear winner.

India’s abovementioned win in England in 1971 took cricket’s popularity to unprecedented heights across the country. When the Kanpur Test match of India’s 1972-73 series against England was sold out, the Uttar Pradesh government reached out to All India Radio.

A temporary television transmitter was set up at the Green Park to bring live cricket — but only to cricket fans who lived within three to five miles of the venue. Television was still in its nascent stages in India.

During the same series, Bombay received television coverage as well, for the Test match at the Brabourne Stadium. The Elphinstone College installed a television set inside its library, much to the joy of the students, who remained glued to the action, just like their counterparts over the decades to follow.

India’s tour of Pakistan in 1978-79 was telecast back home, witnessing a rapid increase in the sales of television sets in India, assuming absurd proportions when India and Pakistan co-hosted the World Cup in 1987.

By then, Indian fans could also watch cricket in Sri Lanka and Sharjah, though live action from outside Asia was still a no-no.

That changed in the 1990s, after India opened its economy to the world. Satellite television and cheaper television sets made cricket the most-viewed show in the country.

In 2022, the IPL’s television rights sales would make it the second-richest sporting league in the world. The growth would take place at an astronomical pace… but that is another story.