Team India is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and thus possess the Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) status.
India national cricket team got a taste of the game from the very early days. The game was first introduced in colonial India by the ruling European elites while the first cricket club was established in Calcutta (currently known as Kolkata) way back in 1792. However, it took India nearly 150 years more to play their first-ever Test match when they played a Test match on 25 June 1932 at Lord's. In doing so, India became the sixth team to get the Test status.
Not surprisingly, Team India remained the underdogs in the first few decades after getting the Test status. In fact, they managed to end up on the winning side of a Test on only 35 occasions in 196 attempts. It took them nearly two decades to win their first Test which came in 1952.
But the team's fortunes took a turn for the good in the 1970s. The likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Bishen Singh Bedi gave India a new identity. India started winning series and beat the likes of England and West Indies to prove their immense credentials.
The miraculous win over the mighty West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final more or less established India as a cricketing powerhouse. Till date, the cricket-obsessed nation has won two 50-over World Cups - in 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev and in 2011 under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. After winning the 2011 World Cup, India became only the third team after West Indies and Australia to have won the World Cup more than once and the first cricket team to win the World Cup at home. It also won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
The British brought cricket to India in the early 1700s, with the first cricket match played in 1721. More than a century later, the Parsi community in Bombay formed the Oriental Cricket Club, the first cricket club to be established by Indians. The Europeans, who were hesitant to play with the Indians, mellowed down after a while and invited the Parsis to play a match in 1877.
By 1912, the Parsis, Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims of Bombay played a quadrangular tournament with the Europeans every year. In fact, the likes of Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji received lavish praise from the British. Currently two of the most prestigious competitions of the country - Ranji Trophy and the Duleep Trophy - are named after the two.
In 1911, an Indian team went on their first official tour of the British Isles. However, they returned to India after only playing against the county sides.
Test match status:
India began their journey in Test cricket in 1932 under the captaincy of CK Nayudu, considered as the finest Indian batsmen at that time. The game against England took place at the iconic Lord's in London. As expected, England made light work of India, beating the Asian side by 158 runs.
In the following year, India national cricket team played their first Test series when they host England for three games. India's wait for a win continued as England won the series 2-0. As time wore on, India improved but could not get success on the field in the 30s and 40s. In the early 1940s, India didn't play any Test cricket due to the Second World War. The team's first series as an independent country was in late 1947 against Sir Donald Bradman's Invincibles. It was also the first Test series Team India played which was not against England.
Australia had gone on to thrash India by 4-0 in the five-match series. In the following year, India hosted West Indies and narrowly lost the five-match series 1-0.
Finally after 23 Tests, India national cricket team registered their first win when they beat England at Madras in 1952. Later in the same year, they won their first Test series by beating arch-rivals Pakistan. In 1956, they beat New Zealand to win another series as they continued improving. But they did not win any more Test in the 50s while also suffering crushing defeats against England and Australia. In 1959, England thrashed India 5-0 to register their only clean sweep in a five-match series. In the 60s, India enhanced their reputation by doing well at home.
You must be logged in to post a comment.