New book reveals how Parsee community helped in Indian cricket's growth

Farokh Engineer

The contribution of the Parsee community in Indian cricket can't be forgotten and it was their zeal that gave Indian cricket a new direction in the 20th century, reveals a new book that captures the essence of the game in the country.

"India's Parsee community led the development of Indian cricket. The early Parsee cricketers, having endured years of condescending remarks from British critics, went on to organize two ambitious tours of England, discovered the first great Indian cricketer, Mehellasha Pavri, and, most importantly, started beating English teams both in England and India," journalist and broadcaster Mihir Bose wrote in his new book 'Nine Waves' published by Aleph Book Company.

The author wrote about the flamboyant Parsee cricketers, who headlined the Indian teams till the 1970's.

"Parsees remained an important part of Indian cricket until well into the 1970s and I grew up watching Polly Umrigar, Nari Contractor, both captains of India, Farokh Engineer, a crucial member of the 1971 team that beat England in England for the first time, and Rusi Surti, whom we christened the 'poor man's Sobers'. Then Tata, the great Parsee firm, employed some of India's best cricketers, but now there are hardly any prominent Parsee cricketers in India."

Some famous Parsee cricketers in statistics:

Nari Contractor was a left-handed batsman who played in 31 Tests, scoring 1611 runs at an average of 31.6.

Polly Umrigar was an all-rounder who had played in 59 Tests, scoring 3631 runs at an average of 42.2.

Farokh Engineer was a prolific wicket-keeper batsman who played in 46 Tests, scoring 2611 runs at a strike rate of 137.3

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