All the cricketers who took the field in India’s U-19 World Cup opening game against the USA on Thursday were bound by a common heritage. They were either Indians or of Indian descent, with the Stars and Stripes embossed on their chests. And when India’s national anthem rang out before the match, the parents of most American cricketers sang along, even though they had the flag of the United States wrapped around them. Those moments were metaphorical of the primacy of India and South Asia in the tournament — being hosted this time by Zimbabwe and Namibia — and the cricketing world at large. Tournament records show that one in every three cricketers in the competition is South Asian, or traces their ancestry to the region. This excludes those of Indian and Pakistani heritage who comprise the East African nation of Tanzania, as well as the descendants of indentured labourers in South Africa and the West Indies. The numbers capture the story of how the coloniser’s sport has been taken over by the colonised. Of …