Cricket in India was introduced by the British in 1700 and the first match was played in 1721. In 1848 the Parsi community in Bombay formed the Oriental Cricket Club which was the first cricket club established by the Indians. In the early 1900’s, some Indians went to play for the England cricket team, namely Ranjit Singh G and Dilip Singh G, later their names were used for Ranji Trophy and Dilip Trophy and hence the history of cricket in India. It started. India Cricket History.
In 1911, the Indian team went on its first official tour of the British Isles. But played only with the English national team and not with the England cricket team.
1st Test Match in 1932
India was invited to the Imperial Cricket Council in 1926 and the Indian team made its debut in 1932 as a Test playing nation in England under CK Naidu.
The only Test match between England and India was played at Lord’s Ground in London. India was lose the match by 158 runs.
In 1933, India hosted its first Test series. The team’s first series as an independent nation was in late 1947 against Australia.
India recorded their first Test victory in 1952 in the 24th match against England at Madras. Later that year, he won his first Test series against Pakistan.
India won their first Test series against England at home in 1961-62 and the home series against New Zealand. India 1st outside subcontinent won the first series against New Zealand in 1967-1968.
During the 1970s, India saw the emergence of two of the best batsmen of all time, Sunil Gavaskar and Gandapa Vishwanath. The players were responsible for winning back-to-back series in the West Indies and England in 1971 under the captaincy of Ajit Wadikar.
1st ODI and ICC World Cup in 1974-1985
The first ODI was played by India against England in 1974. The Indians started as a weak team in the ODIs and did not qualify for the second round in the first two editions of the World Cup.
During the 1980s, India developed a more aggressive batting line-up with the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar and all-rounders Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri.
In 1983, India won its first World Cup by defeating West Indies in the final at Lord’s and this victory changed the history of cricket in India.
India won the Asia Cup in 1984 and the World Cricket Championship in Australia in 1985.
In 1980s Gavaskar and Kapil Dev best played of their careers. Gavaskar set a record of 34 centuries in Tests, becoming the first man to cross the 10,000-run mark. Kapil Dev took the highest wicket-taker in Test Cricket Match with 434 wickets.
In 1986’s to 2000’s
The addition of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble to the Indian team in 1989 and 1990 further improved the team.
Despite being the greatest player of its kind in the 1990s, India have not won any of their 33 Tests outside the subcontinent, having won 17 of 30 at home.
After losing to Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup semi-finals, the team underwent significant changes as Soro Ganguly and Rahul Dravid became captains.
Until early 1998, Tendulkar was the world’s leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs, and India enjoyed winning the home Test series against Australia.
After failing to reach the semi-finals of the 1999 World Cup, India suffered a 3-0 defeat on the tour of Australia and then a 2-0 defeat at home against South Africa.
Ganguly was appointed the new captain in 2000 and there was a lot of controversy. Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were caught in a match-fixing scandal and were banned. This period was termed as the worst time of Indian cricket.
However, newcomers – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Soro Ganguly – have vowed not to let this happen to them again and have brought Indian cricket out of the dark ages.
21st-Century
The Indian team did well under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly and under the guidance of John Wright. India maintained their unbeaten home record in the Test series against Australia after their victory in 2001.
India was the joint winner of the ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka in 2001 and went to the 2003 Cricket World Cup where they reached the final but lost to Australia.
From 2003 to 2004, India was send to Australia to play a Test series, where they drew 1-1 with the world champions and then won the Test and ODI series in Pakistan.
In 2004, India faced a lack of form and fitness of its old players. After losing the home Test series against Australia, they lost the ODI home series against Pakistan.
2005 was the year when players like MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh emerged in the Indian team. In 2005, India won the home series against Sri Lanka and drew the series with South Africa, which moved India to the second position in the ICC ODI rankings.
The beginning of 2007 was the revival of the Indian team under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The Captaincy of Dhoni in the history of Indian cricket
After winning the Test series against England in August 2007, Dhoni was name captain of the Twenty20 and ODI teams.
India won the 1st ICC T20 Cricket World Cup in September 2007.
And 2007-08, India toured Australia where India lost the highly controversial home Test series 2-1 but managed to win the CV series.
India won the first Test series in 41 years in New Zealand in 2009. India became the number one Test team in the world after defeating Sri Lanka 2-0 in December 2009.
He maintained that ranking by drawing series against South Africa and Sri Lanka. In October 2010, India whitewashed Australia 2-0 in the home Test series.
On April 2, 2011, India defeated Sri Lanka in the final to win the 2011 World Cup, becoming the third team to win the World Cup twice. After the West Indies and Australia.
During 2011, England replaced India as the number one Test team. This year saw the retirement of players whose names made history in Indian cricket – Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Sachin Tendulkar retired in November 2013 and Soro Ganguly retired in 2008.
2011 was a turning point for the Indian cricket team. India were knock out of the second round of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20. And also failed to qualify for the final of the 2012 Asian Cup.
Success around the world
By early 2013, India had beaten Australia 4-0 at home in the Test series, 3-2 in the seven-match ODI series. And won the one-off T20.
When the Indian team was touring Australia in late 2014, it saw the sudden retirement of MS Dhoni.
India, led by new captain Virat Kohli, began to dominate the Test series at home. They beat South Africa in 2015, the beginning of an unbeaten 19-Test series. The series also saw the rise of Ravi Chandra Ashwin and Ravinder Jadeja. India Cricket History.
Till 2016, MS Dhoni resigned from the captaincy in limited overs. And handed over the captaincy to Virat Kohli in all formats.
India defeated England 4-0 in the Test series in all three formats. Then won the Test series against Bangladesh and Australia. So India became the third team to win a Test series against all other Test playing nations. India have an unbeaten record of winning eight consecutive Test series in 2017.
The Indian team played the 2019 World Cup, finishing first in the group stage with 7 wins. And only 1 loss against host nation England. They made it to the semi-finals but lost to England. Rohit Sharma top-scored for the team with 648 runs. T20 series was draw and meanwhile India won the Test series.
India played its first T20 series of 2020 against Sri Lanka and won 2-0. The Indian played 3 ODIs against Australia and won 2-0.
This was a short history of cricket in India. From 1700 to 2021, the Indian cricket team has gained many records and recognition since its debut as a team. Today the Indian cricket team is say to be one of the best teams in the world. Along with the best players in the world. For more details click here.