Street Cricket in Calcutta: Out, Caught!

Tue, 21 Dec 1999 08:21:39 +0000

July 1: Calcutta. A city without playgrounds. But still, a city that has learnt to have fun with what there is – the streets. And street or ‘para’ cricket is one of those inventions. Cricket during the day, under the sun, and cricket under streetlights and floodlights once the sun is down. Cricket played to the cheers of the neighbourhood — the family, the pet, the neighbours, their domestic helps — in short, all.

This is nothing unusual for Indians who have always spent a large part of their lives outdoors, sitting on a ‘charpai’ or stringed cot under a tree or playing games according to the season, be it ‘gulli danda’ in summer or throw a stick in mud and let it hold, during the rain. And cricket has become the king of all street games. The street is where most of our cricketing legends started, including Calcutta’s very own ‘Bengal ka gaurav, Saurav’ (the pride of Bengal – Saurav (Ganguly).

Calcutta City on Pitara Kids Network

Street Cricket in Calcutta: Out, Caught!