LONDON: Three flags fluttering on the London Oval Cricket Pavilion neatly symbolizes the ethnic identity of the British minority which can be exchanged on the fourth test between England and India on Thursday.
A Jack Unier British flew highest in the middle, flanked by Saint George’s Cross and Tricolor India, because the team continued the five-match series that gripped 1-1.
Although born and raised in the UK, many cricket fans from India came to cheer on the Virat Kohli article than the English side Joe.
“This gives us together as friends and family, it’s not a tribal thing,” explained the financial advisor Ronak Paw, 38.
“This is our inheritance.
Not that we hate England.
When England plays someone else, we support England,” he added.
England has a long history of immigration from commonwealth countries including India, with a large number of arrives after World War II to fill the lack of labor and rebuild the state.
The generation of Asians of England has since become part of the community.
Finance Minister Rishi Sunak was India and 2.5 percent of people in the UK and Wales were identified as ethnically India in the last census.
But the combination of complex cultural factors, especially the central place Cricket in Indian culture means that many British citizens with Indian heritage support their ancestral countries.
“Only as a culture, cricket took precedence.
I only support India for cricket purposes,” said Retail Workers Viren Patel, 55, told AFP.
“This is a cultural thing, it has nothing to do with the country itself.
I feel divided because 90 percent of your year supports England,” he added.
In 1990, the former British government Minister Norman Tebbit announced a controversial benchmark to assess whether ethnic minority integrated into the British society based on their cricket loyalty.
But called “Tebbit Test” disappointed many Indian fans born in the UK who did not see the contradiction between being English and supported the Indian cricket team.
“No one proves our commitment to England or England by supporting the national team,” insisting on Paw.
“We paid our tax here, we were born here, we stayed here what are the evidence we need that we are English people?” Praveen Sangar, a 63-year-old engineer, proudly wearing an Indian dark blue cricket shirt when someone born in India who moved to the English age of five years.
“In your football support English, in my cricket support my homeland, there is no conflict,” he said.
“This world is multi-national now.
Norman Tebbit has passed the date of sales.” Debate divides opinions in the minority community because some cheering for their country’s country based on personal circumstances, often complaining of them against friends and relatives.
But others see this fluid identity as a positive way to attract a minority community in cricket, selling stadiums and making sports more accessible.
“This is a friendly competition.
Cricket is competitive but everyone continues with everyone.
You can feel comfortable supporting any team,” said Jazz Marketing Workers Sidha, 52.
“Where you live has nothing to do with your citizenship or your inheritance – you Can’t dictate it, “he added.