The sport of cricket was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by sailors and traders of the English East India Company in the 17th and 18th centuries.
[citation needed] In 1639, the Company effectively founded the city of Madras (now Chennai), and in 1661 acquired Portuguese territory on the west coast of India that included Bombay (now Mumbai).
In 1690, an Anglo-Mughal treaty allowed English merchants to establish a trading settlement on the Hooghly River, which became Calcutta (now Kolkata).
All of these places became leading centres of cricket as the popularity of the game grew among the native population.
[4][5] The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club was known to be in existence by 1792,[6] but was possibly founded more than a decade earlier.
[7][8] In 1799, another club was formed at Seringapatam in south India after the successful British siege and the defeat of Tipu Sultan.
In the same season, Lord Hawke captained an English team that played four first-class matches including a game against "All India" on 26–28 January 1893.
An English cricket team led by G. F. Vernon toured Ceylon and India in the winter of 1889–90.