Why Muslims get more chances than Dalits in Indian cricket?

Why have the fortunes of Muslims and Dalits in Indian cricket been different, even though they are both marginalised? It is important to note that even Muslims have been underrepresented in Indian cricket, just not to the same extent. Two answers present themselves for this difference. First, Muslim teams played in several cricket tournaments since the late 19th century. Quadrangular tournaments, between the British, Hindus, Muslims and Parsees or variations thereto, were fixtures in several Indian cities such as Mumbai, Lahore, Karachi and Delhi. Further, colleges such as the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh prided themselves on their cricket team.

While Dalits did occasionally play for Hindu sides, this was only after overcoming great opposition. Further, unlike other Hindu castes and communities, there were no dedicated Dalit teams. This also resulted in the second point of difference with the Dalits, i.e. the presence of role models. Players such as Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Syed Mushtaq Ali, after whom the Indian domestic T20 competition is named, captured the public imagination. In recent times, Zaheer Khan, Mohd Azharuddin and Irfan Pathan have been fan favourites; the latter two have also spoken of their Muslim identity at political rallies. On the other hand, there is a complete dearth of Dalit role models in Indian cricket.

While Ramdas Athawale has proposed a 25% reservation for Dalits and Adivasis. Determination of a specific number requires data about the available players at the first-class level, as well as a clearly envisioned long-term plan. Unfortunately, at present, there is no publicly available data about the number of Dalits playing in the domestic structure.

While it is simple enough to rely on a list of Test cricketers from India to ascertain religious minorities such as Muslims and Christians, it is not as simple in case of caste identities, given regional variations in surnames and surnames contrived to erase such identity. In order to truly assess the status of Dalits in the game, data collection needs to be strengthened at lower levels of the game. Lower levels are also where structural barriers most often crop up.