Cricket and films bring out the passion of the Indian populace like nothing else, except coercing young people into pursuing government jobs. It is a forgotten, though exceptional cricketing talent I want to introduce to my readers today. The name might not ring a bell but a memorable film character loosely based on him sure will. The name is Palwankar Baloo (1875-1955), a left-arm finger spinner who belonged to the bottom of the caste hierarchy, but whose skills towered above all others. On reading about him I was reminded of the wrist spinner “Kachra” (Translation: garbage) from the Oscar-nominated film Lagaan (2001), another untouchable whose unmatched bowling skills proved to be a menace for the best of European batsmen.
In the movie, a nervous Kachra (Man's parents named him garbage, what do you expect) had been discovered by Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) and was reluctantly brought into the team to participate in a cricket match that would decide the fate of the oppressed peasants under the British Raj in Champaner, where he proved to be the most valuable asset for the natives. In a time when cricket teams were formed along religious and racial lines, the game was highly politicized. In many such high-stakes contests, Baloo was our man. Kachra’s career may have lasted for as long as one first-class match only, but Baloo rendered invaluable service to Hindu cricket for well over two decades. Later, he even had an unsuccessful stint in politics. His only embarrassing performance that I have come across.
People of his caste worked with leather as tanners or dyers. Born in Dharwad, Karnataka, As a teenager, Baloo moved to Poona with his family and worked as a groundsman for the Parsi gymkhana where he learned to spin the red leather ball and carried forward the family legacy of working with leather. He soon moved to a similar job at a club meant only for the British elite, where he was asked to bowl to the British batsmen for their practice, including the leading British cricketer of that time in India, John Glennie Greig. These countless hours of repetition allowed him to hone his skills and become arguably the first great cricketer the Hindus had produced. Even after Baloo had bowled to the Britishers for so long, he was never allowed to bat. This part of the game was reserved only for the elite classes, remnants of which we can still witness in street cricket.
“He who brings the bat is he who gets to bat first”
-Matthew 1:13
Baloo made a name for himself as a bowler at a time when batsmen would hog all the attention and were often vain. Case in point, once a crowd of thousands had flocked to see the English cricketing legend W.G. Grace in action. To their disappointment, he got bowled on the first delivery. Instead of walking to the pavilion he picked up the bails, placed them on the stumps, and told the bowler “They have come to watch me bat son, not you bowl”. From the top of my head, I can recall multiple batsmen who received the knighthood but hardly any bowlers.
Baloo's journey to becoming a world-class spinner was paved with obstacles because of his position on the caste ladder. He got his first opportunity in the mid-1890s when a team of Poona Hindus desperate to beat the Europeans reluctantly admitted him to their team and with his control of spin and flight, he made himself undeniable. Outside the ground, he was made to sit separately, eat from separate utensils, and not allowed to intermingle with his teammates of higher castes. As much as we despise them, social divisions of society manage their way inside the sports field. His is not the only story of battling against discrimination in sports. Jackie Robinson did not let his skin color stop him from becoming the first African-American player in Major league baseball in 1947. African-American Olympic medalist in track and field events Jesse Owens was never given the credit he deserved. It is the struggle that makes the journey all the more admirable (or maybe I’m just a sadist). Social evils might have been present in sport, but athletes fought tooth and nail to preserve their honor. World-class Australian batsmen were not given long suspensions for ball tampering, nor were teams in major cricketing leagues banned for match-fixing.
“Make cricket great again”
-Donald Trump
Baloo single-handedly raised the existing standard of Hindu cricket by leading his team to victory against a team of Europeans consecutively in 1906 and 1907. This led to the establishment of the annual triangular tournament between the Parsis, Europeans, and the Hindus. With the introduction of a team of Muslims in 1912, it became the quadrangular or “Chaurangi” as the locals called it. Baloo and his brothers (Shivram, Vithal, and Ganpat) were to become a kind of cricketer's death squad in the quadrangular for almost two decades. One can only wonder how many grandmothers were declared ill by youngsters so they could watch the brothers in action. Even in embarrassing defeats, Baloo was usually the only player who managed to acquit himself with plenty of wickets or sometimes a decent score with the bat, Like when in 1911 an all-India team toured England for matches against several counties. In 24 games, the team put up a forgettable performance with only 6 wins, 15 losses, and 3 draws but Baloo picked up 114 wickets at less than 19 runs a piece and received well-earned admiration at home.
“One of the best native bowlers, a left-hander with an easy action.
Has both breaks and a curl in the air and has a lot of spin on the ball.
The most deadly bowler on a sticky wicket.”
-Dr. M.E. Pavri, Parsi cricketer on Baloo
Throughout his career, he was dropped from the team several times for questionable reasons only to be included again because of media pressure and angry letters from cricket fans. The greatest injustice was that captaincy was never bestowed upon him despite his vast experience and skill. Ultimately, when the team's performance had declined, his younger brother Palwankar Vithal was made captain in 1923. By then he had established himself as a stalwart in the Hindu batting line-up. He led the Hindus to victory in 3 out of the next 4 quadrangular tournaments making Baloo and all Hindus proud. The upper castes carried the lower caste Vithal on their shoulders in admiration of the Palwankar brothers' contribution to Hindu cricket. Kachra and Baloo possessed a talent that reached beyond all social divisions. Their performance on the field represented the possibility of a brighter future for the untouchables and gave out a message to the whites that the natives were shaking off their chains. Because of forgotten heroes like Baloo, love for sports triumphs over social divisions.
-Written by Akshit Sardana
Phenomenal writing! Great work!