Almost every second Indian is fond of cricket, we find ourselves having a beautiful bond with cricket that might not be visible but has a deep anchorage within our hearts, from being a kid playing gully cricket to wishing for the win for India in the World Cup till the last ball. We have now connected cricket to our childhood and nostalgia.
Now the game you are so fond of, wouldn’t you want to know more about it, how it came in India, or other words, the History of Cricket In India?
In this article, we will cover almost everything that links with the History of Cricket in India. We will start with how Cricket came to India, who was responsible for bringing cricket to India, how it started to gain popularity, and how official cricket got its roots within the soil of cricket in India.
Introduction of Cricket in India
It was 1932 when India got its place as the sixth team to get the status of Test cricket-playing nation which was in England. But we might not forget about the person who was behind this success and position that India has achieved, the King of Patiala or Maharaj of Patiala, Shri Bhupindar Singh or Bhuppa.
He was very fond of cricket and this was properly depicted through his actions, he had his team Patiala XI which is considered as one of the best teams in India, not only was he fond of cricket he was also an excellent cricketer. He had 27 first-class matches during the years 1915 to 1937, he also played as a member of Marylebone Cricket Club during the years 1926 and 1927. He also donated his Ranji Trophy in honor of Shri Ranjit Singh ji and Jam Sahib of Nawangar. Not only this he also stayed as the captain of the Indian Team during the First Tour of India for Test Cricket but due to the reason of his health he was later replaced by the King or Maharaja of Porbandar.
First cricket match in India
The first cricket match in India and its team was led by CK Naidu, which took place before India’s Independence, the main highlights of the match were on Mohammad Nissar which was against England, although our team did not win as it was all out at the score of 187 and we were given a target of 346 and played for 275 runs and we lost from the range of 158 runs.
Independent Cricket in India
In 1948, it was the first Independent Cricket in India which was held against Australia and was played in Brisbane, the captain of Independent Cricket Lala Amarnath, although India lost to Australia by 4-0.
1952 win over England
In 1952 it was the stadium at Madras where India wrote history by achieving its first win in the Test series, as India won against England. The first series was won against Pakistan, in the same year which was in 1952.
In between India witnessed quite a few defeats, it was during the 1960s when India again started to improve its performance, by winning against England again, in its first series with England from year 1961-1962.
In the years 1965-1966 India again won against New Zealand, then in the years 1967-1968, India again wrote history after winning against New Zealand during its first series out of the subcontinent.
Sunil Gavaskar and World Cup 1983
In the year 1970 Sir Sunil Gavaskar made his debut in the series against West-Indies of the year 1970-1971, he did a great job by scoring 774 runs in totals for all and played a great role in the win of India against West-Indies which also was the first win of India against, West-Indies.
It was Sir Sunil Gavaskar who ultimately established the best Indian team till then, having the best players like Bishen Bedi, Srinivas Venkataranaghavan, Erapalli Prasanna, and Bhagwat Chandrashekhar.
With the guidance and leadership, India had the best team that also secured its victory, against England in 1971 and also during 1972-1973.
Sir Sunil Gavaskar, became the first Indian cricketer who scored 200 runs in a Test match.
Sir Sunil Gavaskar was feared by all the teams and became the main target of every team, be it any ODI or Test Match.
When the time came up for the World Cup he was as expected the main target of every team and during the finals, against West Indies, as being the main target West-Indies got him out, but still India won its first World Cup in 1983 with the help of new emerging great cricketers like Mohammad Azharuddin, Ravi Shastri, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Sanjay Manjrekar, Krish Srikanth, and Mahinder Singh, with the help of whom India won the World Cup of 1983.
Sir Sunil Gavaskar, also became the first batsman who scored 10,000 runs in total in the Test Cricket, he scored 34 centuries.
Late 20th Century and the Emerging Cricketers
In the year 1985, India won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia, and another victory in India in 1986, which also remained the last victory for almost 19 years as the last test series won outside the subcontinent.
Kapil Dev became an all-rounder, and he also became the biggest wicket-taker by taking 434 wickets, which was later surpassed by Courtney Walsh and a few others.
Then was the time of 1989 and 1990 when it was the rise of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble and then Sachin Tendulkar became the best cricketer in 1998. Sachin Tendulkar then remained as captain for a short while, he later quit his captainship which was then taken over by Saurav Ganguly.
FAQs
Ques- Who started Indian cricket?
Ans- It was the Britishers who brought Cricket to India.
Ques- Who is the father of Indian cricket?
Ans- Sir Ranjit Singh Vibhaji Jadeja is known as the father of Indian cricket.
Ques- Who is IPL’s godfather?
Ans- MS Dhoni is considered the father of IPL.
