Cricket is a hugely popular sport in India. A holdover from the country’s past as a British colony, it is closely followed by millions of people, who elevate elite cricketers to the status of Bollywood movie stars.
Something of this passionate enthusiasm for the game is captured by Narayan in “The M.C.C.” In this story, one of Swami’s friends Rajam forms the Malgudi Cricket Club. What’s ironic about this is that the acronym of the club is exactly the same as that of the Marylebone Cricket Club in London, which was the governing body of international cricket at the time the story was written and would be for many years thereafter.
The Malgudi Cricket Club may not have the same status as the other M.C.C. but to Rajam and the others, it’s no less important. And to Swami it’s a great opportunity to avoid practicing drill at the Board School. The M.C.C. provides him with a means of escape from his unhappy schooldays, a chance to play cricket with his friends.
Swami is a demon bowler, so the team needs him just as much as he needs them. But Swami, under threat of punishment from his headmaster, runs away from the Board School, thus missing the crucial match between the M.C.C. and the Young Men’s Union.
