If there’s something that unifies the people of our nation beyond all diversities in faith and culture, it’s by far the never-finishing affinity towards cricket. The history of Indian Cricket reveals that the sport was introduced by the British Government in India, but its reputation kept on growing with passing time. And now considered to be a faith in India. 

First Indian Cricket Club

The first Indian Cricket club called the ‘Parsee Oriental Cricket Club’ was established in Bombay (Mumbai). From this point, the adventure of Indian cricket commenced and marked the start of interest of Indian people in cricket. The first-ever cricket match was performed between Parsis and Europeans in 1877 AD.

Indian Cricket in the Twentieth Century

After its initiation, Cricket began gaining the reputation of some Indian people within a quick duration of time. The middle and last half of the nineteenth century was a crucial duration in the records of Indian Cricket, as the sport unfolds its attainment in nearly all the parts of India throughout that period.

Indian Cricket throughout the 1950s

After Independence, Indian Cricket gained huge momentum, while India was given its first-ever Test series win against the neighboring Asian counterpart and archrivals Pakistan, in 1952. This period also witnessed remarkable and exceptional performances of the best Indian Cricket players like Polly Umrigar, Vijay Manjrekar, and S.M. Gupte.

Indian Cricket throughout the 1960s

Throughout the Nineteen Sixties, Indian Cricket noticed India’s exceptional performances on home soil had been glaring while India defeated New Zealand and held the teams like Pakistan, England, and Australia to a draw, throughout that duration. The Nineteen Sixties also witnessed the growth of several significantly proficient Indian Cricket players like Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Dilip Sardesai, Hanumant Singh, Chandu Borde, and E.A.S. Prasanna.

Indian Cricket throughout the Nineteen Seventies

India’s spin quartet comprising Bishen Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, B.S. Chandrasekhar, and Srinivas Venkataraghavan came into focus throughout the Nineteen Seventies as the golden generation in the records of Indian Cricket. 

The Nineteen Seventies also witnessed the growth of India’s best batsmen – Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath globally. 

India efficaciously won consecutive Test series in West Indies and England in 1971 and the team played led by Ajit Wadekar, in each of the series.

Indian Cricket throughout the Eighties

In this decade, India introduced a batting line-up with stroke makers including Mohammed Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar, and all-rounder Ravi Shastri who distinguished themselves throughout this period. In 1983 India won the Cricket World Cup against West Indies in the final. In 1984, India won the Asia Cup and in the succeeding year won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia. 

The Eighties witnessed Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev at the top of their careers. Sunil Gavaskar with a Test record of 34 centuries as he became the prior example to attain the 10,000 run mark and Kapil Dev later became the very best wicket-taker in Test cricket with 434 wickets.

Indian Cricket throughout the 1990s

The addition of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble to the countrywide side in 1989 and 1990 progressed the Indian Cricket team. The following year, Javagal Srinath, India’s quickest bowler considering Amar Singh, made his debut. Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly made their debut in the equal Test at Lord’s. The team played further damage in 2000 with Saurav Ganguly appointed the brand new captain while former captain Mohammad Azharuddin and fellow batsman Ajay Jadeja had been implicated in a match–fixing scandal and given existing bans

Indian Cricket throughout the 2000s

Since 2000, the Indian team has undergone important enhancements with the appointment of John Wright as India’s first-ever overseas instructor. 

Victory in 2001 against Australia marked the start of a dream run for India under the captaincy of Saurav Ganguly, which continued in the later test matches in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and England. And in the later years, India played joint winners in the ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka, and in the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, they reached the finals resulting as runner-up against Australia.

Introduction of Twenty20 International Tournaments in India

In December 2006, India performed and won its first-ever 20-20 International in South Africa, becoming the latest Test team to play 20-20 cricket. After prevailing in 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 20-20 and ODI team. In September 2007, it won the first-ever 20-20 World Cup held in South Africa, beating Pakistan by five runs in an interesting final.

India in World Cup 2011

After a long time since 1983, India won the Cricket World Cup in 2011, conducted in Mumbai against Sri Lanka, under the training of Gary Kristen and the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, being the man of the tournament. India had marked itself as the first country to win a tournament on native soil.