Sports
History of Indian cricket - Before 1930s
Zee Cric The game of cricket was
introduced in India in the middle of the 18th century. On 3rd March
1845 the ‘Sporting Intelligence’ magazine carried a reasonably lengthy match report
between ‘Sepoy’ cricketers and the European ones. The article clearly
proved that Indian cricket was underway in a city called Sylhet, in
modern day Bangladesh.
Zee Cric
An
impressed reporter proudly stated “the most enthusiastic European
Cricketers could not have played with more energy and cheerfulness than
the Sepoys did”.
However, chroniclers of cricket unanimously suggest that the formation of ‘Parsi Oriental Cricket Club’ in Bombay in the year 1848 led to the start of organized cricket by the Indians.
Parsi cricket
The first Indians to take to the
game were the Parsis of Bombay, an educated, well-to-do and progressive
community. In 1848, the Parsi boys established the ‘Oriental Cricket Club’.
The emerging Parsi middle class
supported cricket as a means of strengthening ties with the overlords,
while intellectuals welcomed it as a renewal of physical energy for the race. Around thirty Parsi clubs were formed
in the within two decades of the formation of the first club. They were
named for British viceroys and statesmen and for Roman gods.
Hindu cricket
The Hindu’s took up the game of
cricket with the primary reason that they did not want to fall behind
the Parsis in any manner. The first Hindu club ‘Bombay Union’ was formed
in 1866. Hindus started playing cricket due to social and business
rivalry with the Parsis. Hindu cricketers sorted themselves on the lines
of caste and region of origin.
One of the primary Hindu cricketer was Ramchandra Vishnu Navlekar.
Some
of the main clubs were Gowd Saraswat Cricket Club, Kshatriya Cricket
Club, Gujrati Union Cricket Club, Maratha Cricket Club, Teluu Youn
Cricketrs etc.
“There is no more agreeable
sight to me,” remarked the Mayor of Bombay in 1886, “than of the whole
Maidan overspread by a lot of enthusiastic Parsi and Hindu cricketers,
keenly and eagerly engaged in this manly game.”
Gymkhanas
The all-white Bombay Gymkhana,
which even refused admission to Ranji, was established in 1875. The
Europeans invited the Parsis to paly with them for the first time in
1877. This more or less became a regular feature though it was a decade
before the Parsis’ eventually managed to win. Beginning from 1886, the
Hindus also began playing an annual match with the Europeans.
With the efforts of Luxmani and
Tyebjee families, also famous for their social work such as establishing
schools and good work at the law courts, the Muslims had also set up their own cricket club in 1883. This was known as the Muslim Cricket Club.
Cricket in India got a huge
impetus by the formation of Parsi, Hindu and Muslim Gymkhanas in the
1890s. The British alloted one plot each to the three major religious
communities in the city, for their exclusive use ending their conflict
with the colonizers.
Ranjit Singhji
A notable mention in this era is the vital contribution of the Black Prince, Prince Ranjit Singhji who had moved to England to study at Cambridge University and was given a cricket “blue” in his final year by the college.
He then went on to play county cricket for Sussex. He made his Test debut for England in 1896. This made him the first Indian to play Test cricket.
Zee
Cric Ranjit Singhji was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1897. He scored
a century in the second innings on his Test debut, making his only the
second batsman for England to achieve this feat. Duing the year 1899 he amassed 2,780 runs during a season which was the highest aggregate ever made!
India’s most prestigious
first-class cricket tournament – Ranji Trophy was named after him in
order to honour this great cricketer.
The Bombay Quadrangular
It started as a contest between
the Parsis and the Europeans and evolved thereafter. The Hindus joined
in 1886. These matches came to be called the Presidency matches due to
their ever-rising popularity. In 1907 a triangular tournament was
started which involved the Parsis, Europeans and the Hindus.
It was in 1912 that the Muslims
joined the league of the famous Bombay tournaments turning it into a
Quadrangular. Neutral umpires were introduced for the first time in
1917. Uptil now, umpires were mainly appointed from the Bombay Gymkhana.
However, all this changed and umpires began to be appointed from the
non-competing teams.
In the 1920’s, the quadrangular
tournament gained immense popularity. Players were being selected from
all over the sub-continent region. This gave a huge boost to cricket in
India and led to the start of several other tournaments all over the
country.
In
the year 1937, a new team called the Rests was also added to the
already four teams turning it into a Pentangular tournament. However, in
1946 due to communal disturbances this Pentangular tournament was done
away with, and a zonal competition came into existence.
The Nayudus from Nagpur
The Nayudu family spent
thousands on the promotion of cricket. They formed a club in Nagpur that
coached many underprivelaged boys and took care of their education
provided they fulfilled the only condition, that is, to play cricket.
Zee
Cric Such was the family’s fascination with the sport that C K Nayudu’s
birth was celebrated by his granddad by organising a cricket match.
The family’s contribution proved
fruitful as C.K Nayudu, the family’s illustrious son, went on to become
one of the finest batsmen that India has ever produced.
One of Nayudu’s most memorable
innings was his 153 in Bombay in 1926. Coming in an hour and thirteen
minutes against six English top line
bowlers spoke volumes of the progress made by Indian cricket. CK Nayudu
was Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year in 1933 and was also nicknamed as
the ‘Hindu Bradman’.
Formation of BCCI
A.E.R Gilligan’s MCC (Marylebone
Cricket Club) toured India in 1926 and took on Bombay in a match that
proved to be a turning point in the history of Indian cricket. As C K
Naidu smashed 153, with elevan sixes and thirteen fours, for the Hindus,
India began dreaming big. It eventually led to the formation of BCCI in
1928. Records prove that the first meeting was held on 4 December 1928 and was funded by the Maharaja of Patiala.
The first President of the Board
was RE Grant Govan and the founding Secretary was AS De Mello. De Mello
later went on to become Board President and was also involved in the
creation of the Cricket Club of India. He also helped in establishing
Brabourne Stadium which was India’s first permanent cricket venue in
1937.
Cricket is undoubtedly one of
the most popular sports in India and the game is being played all over
the country, since its inception. The exact day, month or year of
Cricket`s inception in India is still ambiguous, due to lack of proper
facts. However, according to some people, the Indians started playing
the game for the first time in an organised way in the year 1848. The
first Indian Cricket club, named the Parsee Oriental Cricket Club, was
founded in that year and they played their first match in Bombay
(Mumbai). From this point, the journey of Indian cricket began.
Other experts are of the opinion
that the history of Indian Cricket started its journey in the place
named Sylhet (currently in Bangladesh). Proper evidence has been found
to prove this from the Sporting Intelligence magazine, on 3rd March,
1845. The report was published by the editor of the Englishman newspaper
and the news item was titled as "Sepoy Cricketers". The reporter made
proper observation of the match played between the European cricketers
and the Sepoy cricketers. Apart from this news item, another report has
been found to support the fact that Cricket was first played in Sylhet
in India. This report was titled as "Sepoy Cricket at Sylhet" and in
this report, the reporter mentioned about the match between two
regimental sides, each of which contained at least eight native
cricketers.
After its initiation, Cricket
started to get popularity among the Indian people within a short period
of time. The middle and last half of the nineteenth century was an
important period in the history of Indian Cricket, as the game spread
its reach in almost all the parts of India during that period. Many
teams from England started touring India by the close of the nineteenth century. There is a report published in the newspaper,
The Times of India, that supports this fact and the report was about
the Presidency matches between the Parsees and the Lord Hawke`s
Englishmen. The match was held in Bombay in 1892. The report described
how the international Cricket matches that took place in Bombay at that
time, increased interest among the local people. In the Metro cities of
India like Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai),
Cricket was played as a sport by the first half of the twentieth
century. As the Hindus of India too started playing the game, the
tournament of Bombay Presidency Matches became the Bombay Triangular in
1907-08. In 1912-13, the entry of the Muslims made it a quadrangular.
History of Indian Cricket The
First Test Match was played in 1932. Though India did not have a
national cricket team during the early 1900s, a few Indian great
cricketers of that era did represent the England cricket team. Maharaja
Ranjit Singh and Duleep Singhji were the prominent ones among them.
However, the first international exposure in the history of Indian
Cricket came in the year 1926. In that year, a team from the Marylebone
Cricket Club (MCC), led by A.E.R Gilligan toured India. Though it was an
unofficial tour, the Indian people were quite interested and
enthusiastic about the matches that MCC played during the tour. The
legendary Indian cricket player, C. K. Nayudu played brilliantly during
that tour and he also scored a century against the MCC side in Bombay.
The tour was responsible to redefine the contours of Indian cricket. It
ultimately spearheaded to the formation of the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI) in the year 1928. India was accredited Test
status by 1932, much before it got its Independence in 1947. India
played against England in that year.
After Independence, a big push
came in the history of Indian Cricket, when India got its first ever
Test series win against the neighbouring Asian counterpart and
archrivals Pakistan, in 1952. The series saw brilliant and extraordinary
performances from some of the greatest Indian Cricket players like
Polly Umrigar, Vijay Manjrekar and leg spinner SM Gupte. The Indian
Cricket during 1960s saw the Indian team becoming a formidable side on
native soil. It was also the decade, when the Indian team started
playing well in overseas. India`s great performances on home soil were
evident from the fact that India defeated New Zealand and held the teams
like Pakistan, England and Australia to a draw, during that period. The
1960s also saw the rising of some of the greatly talented Indian
Cricket players like Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Dilip Sardesai, Hanumant
Singh, Chandu Borde and not least of all, off-spinner EAS Prasanna.
The era of India`s spin quartet
comprising Bishen Singh Bedi (left-arm spinner), Erapalli Prasanna
(off-spinner), BS Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan
(off-spinner) during 1970s, is considered as the golden era in the
history of Indian Cricket. Apart from the dominance of the spin quartet
over all the batsmen of the world, 1970s also saw the rising of two of
India`s greatest ever batsmen - Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath.
All of these great Indian Cricket players made their presence felt in
the international circuit and contributed immensely in the success of
Indian team. India successfully won consecutive Test series in West
Indies and England in 1971 and the team was led by Ajit Wadekar, in both
the series.
During the 1980s, India
developed a more attack minded batting line-up with stroke makers such
as Mohammed Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar and all-rounder Ravi Shastri
prominent during this time. India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983,
defeating the, then favourites, West Indies in the final, owing to a
strong bowling performance. In spite of this the team performed poorly
in the Test arena, including 28 consecutive Test matches without a
victory. In 1984, India won the Asia Cup and in 1985, won the World
Championship of Cricket in Australia. Apart from this, India remained a
very weak team outside the Indian subcontinent. India`s Test series
victory in 1986 against England remained the last Test series win by
India outside the subcontinent for the next 19 years. The 1987 Cricket
World Cup was held in India. The 1980s saw Gavaskar and Kapil Dev
(India`s best all rounder to this date) at the pinnacle of their
careers. Gavaskar made a Test record 34 centuries as he became the first
man to reach the 10,000 run mark. Kapil Dev later became the highest
wicket taker in Test cricket with 434 wickets.
History of Indian Cricket The
addition of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble to the national side in
1989 and 1990 improved the team. The following year, Javagal Srinath,
India`s fastest bowler since Amar Singh, made his debut. Despite this,
during the 1990s, India did not win any of its 33 Tests outside the
subcontinent while it won 17 out of its 30 Tests at home. After being
eliminated by neighbours Sri Lanka on native land at the 1996 Cricket
World Cup, the team underwent a year of change as Rahul Dravid, Saurav
Ganguly, later to be become captains of the team, made their debut in
the same Test at Lord`s. Tendulkar replaced Azharuddin as captain in
late 1996, but after a personal and team form slump, Tendulkar
relinquished the captaincy and Azharuddin was reinstalled at the
beginning of 1998. With the captaincy burden removed, Tendulkar was the
world`s leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs, as India enjoyed a
home Test series win over Australia, the best ranked team in the world.
After failing to reach the semi-finals at the 1999 Cricket World Cup,
Tendulkar was again made captain, and had another poor run, losing 3-0
on a tour of Australia and then 2-0 at home to South Africa. Tendulkar
resigned, vowing never to captain the team again, with Saurav Ganguly
appointed the new captain. The team was further damaged in 2000 when
former captain Azharuddin and fellow batsman Ajay Jadeja were implicated
in a match-fixing scandal and given life bans
Since 2000, the Indian team
underwent major improvements with the appointment of John Wright as
India`s first ever foreign coach. India maintained their unbeaten home
record against Australia in Test series after defeating them in 2001.
The series was famous for the Kolkata Test match, in which India became
only the third team in the history of Test cricket to win a Test match
after following on. Australian captain Steve Waugh labelled India as the
"Final Frontier" as a result of his side`s inability to win a Test
series in India. Victory in 2001 against the Australians marked the
beginning of a dream run for India under their captain Saurav Ganguly,
winning Test matches in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and England.
The England series is also known for India`s highest ODI run-chase of
325 runs at Lord`s which came in the Natwest ODI Series final against
England. In the same year, India was joint winners of the ICC Champions
Trophy with Sri Lanka, and then went to the 2003 Cricket World Cup in
South Africa where they reached the final only to be beaten by
Australia. The 2003-2004 seasons also saw India play out a Test series
in Australia where they drew 1-1 with world champions, and then win a
Test and ODI series in Pakistan.
At the end of the 2004 season,
India suffered from lack of form and fitness from its older players. A
defeat in a following home Test series against Australia was followed by
an ODI home series defeat against Pakistan followed by a Test series
levelled 1-1. Greg Chappell took over from John Wright as the new coach
of the Indian cricket team following the series, and his methods proved
to be controversial during the beginning of his tenure. The tension
resulted in fallout between Chappell and Ganguly, resulting in Rahul
Dravid being made captain. This triggered a revival in the team`s
fortunes, following the emergence of players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni,
Suresh Raina, and the coming of age of players like Irfan Pathan and
Yuvraj Singh.
In December 2006, it played and
won its first ever Twenty20 international in South Africa, becoming the
most recent Test team to play Twenty20 cricket. After winning the Test
series against England in August 2007, Rahul Dravid stepped down as the
captain of the team following which Mahendra Singh Dhoni was made the
captain of the Twenty20 and ODI team. In September 2007, it won the
first ever Twenty20 World Cup held in South Africa, beating Pakistan by 5
runs in a thrilling final. Then they toured Australia with a
controversial series that they lost 2-1 in test but come back for a
whitewash final against them.
Recently, India under the
coaching of Gary Kristen won the Cricket World Cup in 2011, after a long
time since 1983, under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj
Singh became the man of the tournament. The Indian team beat Sri Lanka
by 6 wickets, in the final match which was played in Mumbai. Apparently,
India became the first country to win the tournament in native soil.
Cricket, now termed as the
unofficial national sport of India, has got an old history associated
with its existence in the country. The oldest references to the sport in
India can be dated as early as the year 1725 when some sailors played a
friendly match at a seaport in Kutch. By the year 1792, the Calcutta
Cricket and Football Club had been formed, and a yet another Cricket
club had been formed at Seringapatam by the year 1799.
Beginning of First Class Cricket
As
far as the beginning of First Class Cricket in India is concerned, it
was marked by a match played between Madras and Calcutta in the year
1864. In the year 1877, the Bombay Presidency Match was played for the
first time. Later, it first changed into the Bombay Triangular and then
the Bombay Quadrangular. In the year 1892-93 it was awarded with the
First Class status.
First foreign team arrives at India
In
the year 1889-90 an English team arrived at India. The captain of this
team was George Vernon, which eventually was the first foreign Cricket
team to arrive India, although the matches that it played over here are
not considered to be First Class Cricket matches.
In the year 1892-93 two matches
had been played between Europeans team and Parsees team at Bombay (now
Mumbai) and Poona (now Pune). This is considered to be the regular
beginning of First Class Cricket in the country. After this, four First
Class matches were played between an English team led by Lord Hawke and
an All India team between 26th and 28th of January 1893.
The Bombay Presidency Saga
Bombay
Presidency Matches were played since 1892-93 till 1906-07. In the year
1907-08 the name of these matches was changed to Bombay Triangular
Matches, which continued till the year 1911-12. Since the year 1912-13
the Matches came to be known as Bombay Quadrangular Matches, only to be
changed again in the year 1937-38 into Bombay Pentangular Matches.
Ranji Trophy
Ranji
Trophy was yet another leg of First Class Matches in Indian Cricket,
which began in the year 1934-35 and still continues today. The Bombay
team was the winner of first two Ranji Trophy championships.
Indian Cricket team in international arena
As
far as the presence of Indian team in the international Cricket arena
is concerned, the team played the MCC tour since October 1926 till
February 1927. Within the tour, the Indian team played 26 First Class
matches in India and 4 First Class Matches in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
Captain of the team was Arthur Gilligan, which included Andy Sandham,
Arthur Dolphin, Bob Wyatt, George Geary, Ewart Astill, George Brown and
Maurice Leyland as the other players.
The Indian team started playing
Test Cricket in the English Season of the year 1932. The team played
against the English team at Lord’s Cricket Ground. The English team
defeated the Indian team in the match by 158 runs.
Continuing its presence in the
International Cricket arena, Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagaram (real name
Lt. Col. Sir Vijayananda Gajapathi Raju) formed his own team of
accomplished Cricket players including Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe.
The team visited Ceylon and played some matches in India too during
1930-31.
The Post Independence Era
After
gaining independence, India made its first ever Test Series victory
against the arch rival Cricket team of Pakistan in the year 1952. The
victory gave a great boost to the game in the nation, as some of the All
Time Gems of the Indian Cricket showed their remarkable skills during
this Test Series. These players included Vijay Manjarekar, S.M.Gupte and
Polly Umrigar.
1960’s
Over
the next decade of 1960’s the Indian Cricket team proved its strength
upon the home ground as well as upon foreign pitches too. During this
decade, the team defeated New Zealand and stretched the matches with
teams such as England, Australia and Pakistan to a draw.
1970’s
During
the decade of 1970’s, the Indian Cricket team got one of its most
cherished possessions of all times – The Spin Quartet comprising of
E.Prasanna, B.S.Chandrasekhar, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Bishan Singh
Bedi. Apart from them, the Indian Cricket team also got two of its most
gifted Batsmen of all times during the decade of 1970’s itself – Sunil
Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath.
1980’s
The
decade of 1980’s saw the Indian Cricket team scaling new heights in the
One Day International (ODI) Cricket, and under the captainship of Kapil
Dev, the team even managed to grab the 1983 Cricket World Cup. A number
of accomplished players such as Kapil Dev, Madan Lal and Mahinder
Amarnath made their presence felt during the decade.
1990’s
If
there has to be taken one name for whom the 1990’s decade of Indian
Cricket shall always be remembered, it would surely be none other than
the same of Sachin Tendulkar. Still playing for team India and
considered to be one of the All Time Greatests of the World Cricket,
Sachin simply outclassed every other Batsman’s record, and the saga
still lingers on. Apart from Sachin, some other wonderful Cricket
players such as Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly and Javagal
Srinath emerged in the Indian Cricket team in the decade of 1990’s, and
paid their contribution in getting the Indian team clinching several
international championships during the period.
2000’s
The
Cricket team of India continued to show its brilliant performance in
the new millennium, and the new youthful squad has seen some new faces
and remarkable victories. The new talented players who joined the team
include Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the new captain of the Indian Cricket team
both in Test Cricket and One Day International (ODI) Cricket,
S.Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan and
Yousuf Pathan among others. Under the enthusiastic captainship of
Dhoni, the new young team successfully won the first Twenty-20 Cricket
World Cup held in the year 2007.
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