The Kolkata Derby: Asia’s Oldest and Fiercest Football Rivalry

Words by Syed Kabeer Hassan

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Take a look at the evolution of Team India's world cup cricket jersey. It was in 1992 when cricket teams first began to play with coloured jerseys for the World Cup, following a decade of wearing white kits only. More importantly, and to everyone's relief, the team and player names were also included on the jerseys. Over the years, the Team India jersey evolved;  experimenting with different colour schemes until settling into a blue and orange combination. The 2015 jersey which was sponsored by Nike was made out of recycled bottles. The Indian cricket team won the World Cup twice, in 1983 and in 2011. (Available now as print)

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The Kolkata Derby: Asia’s Oldest and Fiercest Football Rivalry

In the mid-1800s, when British colonists introduced football to India as a recreational sport for their stationed army and navy officers, they could hardly have anticipated a momentous event that would occur decades later. On a scorching July day, a British team faced an unexpected defeat against an Indian team whose barefoot players skillfully outplayed their colonial counterparts. By 1911, with the fervor of independence simmering across the streets of India and freedom slogans echoing in every alley, a historic match was set between a newly formed Indian club and the British East Yorkshire Regiment for the IFA Shield Cup Final. According to Reuters, around 80,000 spectators gathered at the stadium, though most could not see the match directly. The excitement was so intense that those in the crowd who couldn't see the action relied on the movements of kites flying above the stadium to follow the game.