Rohan J

Cricket's Function As A Cultural And Social Language For the South Asian Diaspora

Started June 23, 2026

Abstract or project description

This research examines how South Asian diasporic communities have shaped the sport of cricket in the United States and, in turn, how cricket has shaped identity in these communities. Drawing on Stuart Hall’s 1990 essay “Cultural Identity and Diaspora,” I build on how the identity of cricket players in the United States continually adapts to shifting circumstances and geopolitics, while building off a historically situated culture. I first look at the representation of the identity of cricket players through post-colonial literary texts: Joseph O’Neill’s 2008 novel Netherland, briefly pivoting to C.L.R. James’s 1963 Beyond a Boundary. From excavating cultural representations in texts,  I then pivot to analyzing the discourse of South Asian immigrant experiences with the most important cricket organization in the United States: Major League Cricket.