Organised cricket among the Bengalis had received a significant boost at the turn of the century in 1910 with the formation of the Bengal Gymkhana. Dwijen Sen, secretary of the Sporting Union Club and chief architect of the initiative, found a willing patron in the Maharaja of Cooch Behar. The Gymkhana acquired a plot of ground on the maidan beside the Shahid Minar (then the Ochterlony Monument) and had access to the Woodlands cricket ground at Cooch Behar House in Alipore. In 1911, the Bengal Gymkhana played its first match at Woodlands against an opposition fielded by the Maharaja of Kashmir. The Gymkhana spread the gospel of cricket in far-flung areas of the province. It undertook tours to Dhaka and Mymensingh, where cricket was on the wane after the annulment of the partition of Bengal in 1911. The efforts of the Bengal Gymkhana were complemented by the formation of strong cricket sides by the Maharajas of Cooch Behar and Natore, Mymensingh and Rangpur. The Maharajas fielded their own teams, of which they were active members. The practice of hiring foreign coaches and players to improve the standard of play was also common. It is interesting to note that by hiring English professionals, the Maharajas reversed the prevalent hierarchy of employment in colonial India.

By the 1920s, Bengal's cricket had acquired considerable prominence, and its teams could easily compete with the best teams of the country. In 1922-23, a team from Bengal comprising Bengali, Anglo-Indian and English cricketers toured the Central Provinces and Berar, winning several matches. Teams from Rawalpindi and Chennai came to Bengal in 1922-23. In 1926-27, the Calcutta Cricket Club was instrumental in bringing to India the MCC side led by Arthur Gilligan, a tour universally acknowledged to have transformed Indian cricket. It was a tribute to the level of cricket in Bengal that two players from Bengal, Bidhu Mukherji of the Aryans Club and Faguram groundsman of the Calcutta Cricket Club, were invited for the trials to choose the All-India team that toured England in 1911.