Question

Which was the first Indian cricket club that was founded by the Parsis?
A. National Cricket Club
B. Oriental Cricket Club
C. Indian Cricket Club
D. Parsi Cricket Club

Answer 1

Hint: The white English cricket elite in India did not offer any help to the cricket enthusiastic Parsis. This led to the conflict between the Bombay Gymkhana, a club belonging to the whites-only and the Parsi cricketers over the use of a public park. Soon Parsis realised the prejudice of the colonial authorities in favour of English man which led to the creation of the first Indian cricket club founded by the Parsis.

Complete answer: The Oriental cricket club founded in 1848, was the first Indian cricket club established by the Parsi community of Mumbai. Originally the first Indian community that started playing this game was the small community of Zoroastrians, the Parsi. Parsis saw these clubs as a way of cementing ties with the British colonial powers. The club was sponsored by Tatas and Wadias who were Parsi businessmen.
The Parsees cricket team took part in the annual Bombay tournament in 1877 when they challenged the Europeans cricket team at the Bombay Gymkhana for a two-day match. At that time the competition was known as the presidential match. The Parsis also made two tours of England in 1880 and won several class tournaments and shared victory 11 times. However, the Oriental cricket club was closed a few years later and after that many Indian cricket clubs and academies were opened such as the cricket club of India. It was founded in 1993 and was established in Mumbai. It is believed that cricket club of India was a counterpart to the world's first Marylebone cricket club. Thus there were particularly no clubs named as National, Indian and Parsi cricket clubs.
Hence, the correct answer is option-B.

Note: The British brought cricket to India in the 1700s and the first cricket match was played in 1721. After the foundation of Oriental cricket club by the Parsi community in 1848 European invited Parsis to play a match in 1877. By 1912 different communities of Bombay played tournaments with Europeans every year.