Through a study of the Bombay Pentangular tournament, this essay attempts to retrieve the wider context within which the dynamics of the game of cricket evolved and operated in the subcontinent. Much more than clashes between imperialism and nationalism, between communalism and secularism, the evolution of the game has to be understood in terms of the practices of everyday life in Indian society of the time. The emergence of salaried middle class professionals with an investment in leisure, newly structured hours of work with increased leisure opportunities for workers and the growth of a commercial culture in colonial India shaped the fortunes of our de facto national sport.
