A cricket match involves two teams of 11 players. One team bats and tries to score runs, while the other team fields and tries to dismiss the batting team’s players. The two teams compete to win with runs being scored by the batting side scoring more than their opponents.
Matches can last up to five days, making them one of the sport’s longest forms. A long match means that each team must bat for a considerable time and bowl for many overs in a match.
The history of Indian cricket dates back to the early 19th century when Parsi men and women first introduced it in India.
Therefore, it is no surprise that cricket was born as a predominant British game, and as such, India is one of the oldest countries to compete in it. The first recorded match played by an Indian team was in 1877 where they lost to a touring English side.
History Of Cricket In India
The Indian cricket team is the professional team representing India in international matches. The Cricket Club of India was established by some British civilians, who primarily played on different teams.
The club gained much popularity among the Europeans and the British, stationed in Mumbai to work or conduct business. In the 1880s, CCI was one of the twelve founding members of the Imperial Cricket Council.
Initially, only Europeans were allowed to become members and Indians could only touch and play cricket with a tennis ball as they could not afford leather balls. However, the Europeans used to run a cricket match every Sunday afternoon.
In the 1890s, the first inter-regional or play-off match was played in the Bombay Presidency between Calcutta XI and Madras XI. The first international was played in December 1896, when India played England, attended by 15,000 spectators in Bombay. This was considered an unofficial Test Match.
The first Test match between two sides based outside the British Empire occurred at Lords in London in the early 1900s, when Australia defeated India with 1185 runs. The following year, India toured England and played their inaugural Test against England at Lord’s in the 1910s.
India recorded their first Test victory in England’s second Test at The Oval, a match in which Ranjitsinhji took his first, and only, Test-best score of double-centuries. The Indians won the match by ten wickets after England were dismissed for a mere 28 runs had been scored in that innings.
Why is cricket famous in India?
First off, one of the main reasons cricket has become such a massive sport in India is that it gives the country a chance to be represented on the international stage. This also gives the people of India something to cheer for at international events, which for anyone living in this country, are few and far between.
International Cricket only used to happen a few times a year, and during those times, it brings all Indians together and allows them to cheer for their nation on the world stage.
Cricket is an exciting product of the British Empire. When cricket was introduced here, the game of ours was already a popular one across the world and played differently in different countries. It’s why people had difficulty deciding what rules to follow when they went to play games in India.
So they ended up creating their own set of rules, as British colonists seemed especially fond of doing so. And it’s no surprise that people liked them because they were a lot more exciting than those created by the MCC.
Cricket is also very much about tradition, and by playing this sport here, you can be sure that you’ll be living out a part of our history every time you head to watch a game.
Some Key Moments
Cricket has been played for over 150 years in India. And in that time, India has faced very challenges to come to this far where it is one of the best cricket teams at international levels. Here are some key moments in Indian cricket history.
- Establishment of Ranji Trophy – Early tours by England
- The arrival of Don Bradman
- The first overseas tour – England 1957.
- First test series victory – West Indies, 1961.
- Debut of Sunil Gavaskar
- First World Cup Victory – Chepauk, 1975.
- World Series Cricket and the fight for power and control
Last but not the least, you cannot forget winning first ever World Cup trophy in 1983. Since then, many great players like Sachin Tendulkar debuted for Indian and made the Indian cricket side even stronger.
It knows no borders, language, culture or religion, and India is always a powerhouse of talent in cricket. The country boasts a rich history of producing world-class players in all formats of cricket.