Cricket in India

Cricket is the most popular sport in India. It is played by many people in open spaces throughout the [1] country. The Indian national cricket team won the 1983 Cricket World Cup, the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and the 2011 Cricket World Cup, the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, and shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Domestic competitions include the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, the Irani Trophy and the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy. In addition, BCCI conducts the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition.

Before 1918[edit]
Main article: History of cricket in India to 1918 The entire history of cricket in India and the sub-continent as a whole is based on the existence and development of the British Raj via the East India Company. In 1721, the first definite reference to cricket being played anywhere in the sub-continent is a report of English sailors of the East India Company playing a game at Cambay, near Baroda. The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is known to exist by 1792, but was possibly founded more than a decade earlier. In 1799, another club was formed at Seringapatam in south India after the successful British siege and the defeat of Tipu Sultan. In 1864, a Madras v. Calcutta match was arguably the start of first-class cricket in India.

1918 to 1945[edit]
Main article: History of cricket in India from 191819 to 1945 India became a member of the elite club joining England, South Africa,New Zealand and the West Indies in June 1932. India's first match in Lords against England attracted a massive crowd of 24,000 [2] people as well as the King of England, who was also the Emperor of India

1945 to 1960[edit]
Main article: History of cricket in India from 194546 to 1960 The major and defining event in the history of Indian cricket during this period was the Partition of India following full independence from the British Raj in 1947. An early casualty of change was the Bombay Quadrangular tournament, which had been a focal point of Indian cricket for over 50 years. The new India had no place for teams based on ethnic origin. As a result, the Ranji Trophy came into its own as the national championship. The last-ever Bombay Pentangular, as it had become, was won by the Hindus in 1945-46. India also recorded its first Test victory in 1952, beating England by an innings in Madras
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1960 to 1970[edit]
Main article: History of cricket in India from 196061 to 1970 One team totally dominated Indian cricket in the 1960s. As part of 15 consecutive victories in the Ranji Trophy from 1958-59 to 1972-73, Bombay won the title in all ten seasons of the period under review. Among its players were Farokh Engineer, Dilip Sardesai, Bapu Nadkarni, Ramakant Desai, Baloo Gupte, Ashok Mankad and Ajit Wadekar. In the 1961-1962 season, the Duleep Trophy was inaugurated as a zonal competition. It was named after Ranji's nephew, Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji (190559). With Bombay in its catchment, it is not surprising that the West Zone won six of the first nine titles

1970 to 1985[edit]
Main article: History of cricket in India from 197071 to 1985 Bombay continued to dominate Indian domestic cricket, with only Karnataka, Delhi, and a few other teams able to mount any kind of challenge during this period.

India enjoyed two international highlights. In 1971, they won a Test series in England for the first time ever, surprisingly defeating Ray Illingworth's Ashes winners. In 1983, again in England, India were surprise winners of the 1983 Cricket World Cup under the captainship of Kapil Dev. During the 1970s, the Indian cricket team began to see success overseas beating New Zealand, and holding Australia, South Africa and England to a draw. The backbone of the team were the Indian spin quartet - Bishen Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, giving rise to what would later be called the Golden Era of Indian cricket history. This decade also saw the emergence of two of India's best ever batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath responsible for the backto-back series wins in 1971 in the West Indies and in England, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar

1985 to 2000[edit]
{Main|History of cricket in India from 198586 to 2000} (From the 199394 season, the Duleep Trophy was converted from a knockout competition to a league format.) Several team names and spellings were altered during the 1990s when traditional Indian names were introduced to replace those that were associated with the British Raj. Most notably, Bombaybecame Mumbai and the famous venue of Madras became Chennai During the 1980s, India developed a more attack-focused batting line-up with talented batsmen such as Mohammed Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri prominent during this decade. ((Despite India's victory in the Cricket World Cup in 1983, the team performed poorly in the Test arena, including 28 consecutive Test matches without a victory. However, India won the Asia Cup in 1984 and won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985.)) The 1987 Cricket World Cup was held in India

21st century[edit]
Main article: History of cricket in India from 200001 Since 2000, the Indian team underwent major improvements with the appointment of John Wright, India's first ever foreign coach. This appointment met success internationally as India maintained their unbeaten home record against Australia in Test series after defeating them in 2001 and won the inaugural ICC World T20 in 2007. India was also the first Sub-continental team to win at the WACA in January 2008 [3] against Australia. India's victory against the Australians in 2001 marked the beginning of a dream era for the team under the captainship of Sourav Ganguly, winning Test matches in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and England. India also shared a joint victory with Sri Lanka in the ICC Championship, and went on to the finals in the [3] 2003 Cricket World Cup only to be beaten by Australia. In September 2007, India won the first ever Twenty20 World Cup held in South Africa, beating Pakistan [4] by 5 runs in a thrilling final. India won the Cricket World Cup in 2011 under the captainship of Mahindra Singh Dhoni, since 1983 - they beat Sri Lanka in the final held inMumbai.
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the first time

Organization of Cricket in Modern India[edit]

International Cricket[edit]
Main article: India national cricket team Main article: India national women's cricket team International cricket in India generally does not follow a fixed pattern. For example, the English schedule under which the nation tours other countries during winter and plays at home during the summer. Generally, there has recently been a tendency to play more one-day matches than Test matches. Cricket in India is managed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the richest cricket board in the

cricket world. Indian International Cricket Squad has also provided some of the greatest players to the world, the biggest example of which is Sachin Tendulkar. Indian cricket has a rich history. The Indian national team is currently ranked the no.3 team in test cricket and as the no. 1 team in one day international cricket.

Domestic Competitions[edit]
Ranji Trophy - Founded as 'The Cricket Championship of India' at a meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in July 1934. The first Ranji Trophy fixtures took place in the 1934-35 season. Syed Mohammed Hadi of Hyderabad was the first batsman to score a century in the tournament. The Trophy was donated by H.H. Sir Bhupendra Singh Mahinder Baha-dur, Maharajah of Patiala in memory of His late Highness Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji of Nawanagar. In the main, the Ranji Trophy is composed of teams representing the states that make up India. As the political states have multiplied, so have cricket teams, but not every state has a team. Some states have more than one cricket team, e.g. Maharashtra and Gujarat. There are also 'odd' teams like Railways, and Services representing the armed forces. The various teams used to be grouped into zones - North, West, East, Central and South - and the initial matches were played on a league basis within the zones. The top two (until 1991-92) and then top three teams (subsequent years) from each zone then played in a national knock-out competition. Starting with the 2002-03 season, the zonal system has been abandoned and a two-division structure has been adopted with two teams being promoted from the plate league and two relegated from the elite league. If the knockout matches are not finished they are decided on the first-innings lead. Irani Trophy - The Trophy tournament was conceived during the 1959-60 season to mark the completion of 25 years of the Ranji Trophy championship and was named after the late Z.R. Irani, who was associated with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from its inception in 1928, till his death in 1970 and a keen patron of the game. The first match, played between the Ranji Trophy champions and the Rest of India was played in 1959-60. For the first few years, it was played at the fag end of the season. Realising the importance of the fixture, the BCCI moved it to the beginning of the season. Since 1965-66, it has traditionally heralded the start of the new domestic season. The Irani Trophy game ranks high in popularity and importance. It is one of the few domestic matches followed with keen interest by cricket lovers in the country. Leading players take part in the game, which has often been a sort of selection trial to pick the Indian team for foreign tours. NKP Salve Challenger Trophy - Started as the Challenger series by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 1994-95 and later named as NKP Salve Challenger Trophy in 1998-99, the tournament features 3 teams: India senior, India A and India B playing each other. They were later renamed India Blue, India Red and India Green respectively. This competition also marked as the platform of return for some big names like Syed Adil and A. Eshwar in 2005-06 season after they battled injury and form respectively. The tournament features the top 36 players from across India and is also the most popular domestic structure after IPL. Duleep Trophy - The Duleep Trophy competition, a first-class competition, was started by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 1961-62 with the aim of providing a greater competitive edge in domestic cricket - because, apart from the knock-out stages of the Ranji Trophy, that competition proved predictable, with Bombay winning for fifteen consecutive years. The Duleep was also meant to help the selectors in assessing form. The original format was that five teams, drawn from the five zones, play each other on a knock-out basis. From the 1993-94 season, the competition has been converted to a league format. Vijay Hazare Trophy- Named after the prolific Indian cricketer Vijay Hazare, the Trophy was started in 2002-03 as an attempt to bring the limited-overs game among a greater audience. The competition involves state teams from the Ranji trophy plates battling out in a 50-over competition, much on the lines of Ford Ranger Cup of Australia and Friends Provident Trophy of England. Since its conception,

Tamil Nadu and Mumbai have won the trophy twice each. It is also dubbed as the Premier Cup by BCCI. It now joins Deodhar Trophy as the second one-day competition of Indian domestic circuit. Deodhar Trophy - Started in 1973-74 by Board of Control for Cricket in India, it is the current oneday cricket competition in Indian domestic cricket. 5 zonal teams - North zone, South zone, East zone, West zone and Central zone feature in the competition. North zone have won this competition 11th time. It is also called All-Star Series due to some big names representing their Zonal sides in the one-day fixtures. BCCI Corporate Trophy - BCCI have set up a 12 team inter-corporate tournament that involves all top Indian cricketers. The tournament involves 50-over-a-side matches with the winner picking up Rs 1 crore and the runner up getting Rs 50 lakh. Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - To be played for the first time in the 2008-09 season, this is the first of its kind zonal T20 championship and the third overall in the Indian cricket season, which would see Ranji teams divided along zonal lines into two groups with the tournament culminating in the All India T20 final between the winners of the two groups for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Launched after the success of the IPL and the need of the BCCI to search for more talent in the growing regions of cricket. Indian Premier League - In response to the rival ICL, the BCCI started the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (known as the IPL). This League has been launched by BCCI have received support from all the other Cricket Boards, and International Players could be drafted into City-based Franchises. The first IPL season was held from April 18, 2008 to June 1, 2008 where underdogs Rajasthan Royals, [5] led by Shane Warne, won the first title at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai Based on regional loyalties, the nine-team tournament brings a unique and popular team and play auction system handpicking some of the best international players in the world and teaming them with Indian players, both [5] domestic and international, in one arena.The total prize money for the IPL was $3 million

The game has been likened to Baseball with crowd participation encouraged more strongly than in other forms of the game. It has been greatly acknowledged by people and has made huge profits. Inter-State T20 Championship - After India became another member of the ICC Twenty20 and played its first international T20 against South Africa, BCCI launched its own state structure in 200607 season, with 27 Ranji teams divided in 5 Zones. The final was played between Punjab and Tamil Nadu, which the latter won by 2 wickets and 2 balls remaining, thereby becoming the only ever winner of this series. In this series, Rohit Sharma also became the only ever Indian to register a T20 century for Mumbai against Gujarat. The competition was later replaced by a franchise-based IPL.

India national cricket team

The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), it is a full member of theInternational Cricket Council (ICC) with Test and One Day International (ODI) status. Although cricket was introduced to India by European merchant sailors in the 18th century, and the first cricket club in India was established inCalcutta in 1792, India's national cricket team did not play its first [2] Test match until 25 June 1932 at Lord's. They became the sixth team to be granted Test cricket [3] status. In its first fifty years of international cricket, India was one of the weakest teams in international [4] cricket, winning only 35 of the 196 Test matches it played during the period. The team, however, gained strength in the 1970s with the emergence of players such as batsmen Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath, all-rounder Kapil Dev and the Indian spin quartet Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan (both off spinners), Bhagwat Chandrasekhar (a leg spinner), and Bishen Singh Bedi (a left-arm spinner). Traditionally much stronger at home than abroad, the Indian team has improved its overseas form since the start of the 21st century, winning Test matches in Australia, Englandand South Africa. It won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 under Kapil Dev, was runner-up in 2003 under Sourav

Ganguly, and won the World Cup a second time in 2011 under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It thus became [5] only the third team after West Indies and Australia to have won the World Cupmore than once. It is also the first cricket team to win the World Cup on home soil. India also won the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy under the captaincy of Dhoni. India has also been the runner-up in 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy and the joint champion along with Sri Lanka in 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, led by Ganguly in both the instances. The Indian cricket team is currently ranked second as per the ICC Test rankings, first in ODIs and [7] second in T20Is by the ICC. Currently, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain in all forms of the game while Duncan Fletcher is the coach. Under the leadership of Dhoni, the Indian team has set a national [8] record for most back-to-back ODI wins (nine straight wins) and has emerged as one of the most [9] formidable teams in international cricket. The Indian cricket team also has rivalries with other Testplaying nations, most notably with Pakistan, the political arch-rival of India. However in recent times, rivalries with nations like Australia, England and South Africa have also gained prominence.
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History
The British brought cricket to India in the early 1700s, with the first cricket match played in 1721. In 1848, the Parsi community in Bombay formed the Oriental Cricket Club, the first cricket club to be established by Indians. After slow beginnings, the Europeans eventually invited the Parsis to play a match [11] in 1877. By 1912, the Parsis, Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims of Bombay played a quadrangular tournament [11] with the Europeans every year. In the early 1900s, some Indians went on to play for the English cricket team. Some of these, such as Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji were greatly appreciated by the British and their names went on to be used for the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy - two major first-class tournaments in India. In 1911, an Indian team went on its first official tour of England, but only played [12] English county teams and not the English cricket team. India was invited into The Imperial Cricket [13] Council in 1926, and made its debut as a Test playing nation in 1932, led by CK Nayudu. The match was given Test status despite being only three days in length. The team was not strong in its batting at [14] this point and went on to lose by 158 runs. The Indian team continued to improve throughout the 1930s and '40s but did not achieve an international victory during this period. The team's first series as an independent country was in 1948 against Sir Donald Bradman's Invincibles (a name given to the Australia [15] national cricket team of that time). Australia won the five-match series, 40. India recorded their first Test victory, in their 24th match, against England at Madras (now Chennai) in [16] [17] 1952. Later in the same year, they won their first Test series, which was against Pakistan. They continued their improvement throughout the early 1950s with a series win against New Zealand in 1956. However, they did not win again in the remainder of the decade and lost badly to strong Australian and English sides. The next decade saw India's reputation develop as a team with a strong record at home. They won their first Test series against England at home in 1961 62, and also won a home series against New Zealand. They managed to draw home series against Pakistan and Australia, and another series against England. In this same period, India also won its first series outside the subcontinent, against New Zealand in 196768.
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List of India national cricket captains

This is a list of all cricketers who have captained Indian national cricket team at the international level. The list includes all Indian captains of men's, women's and youth cricket. India became a full member of the Imperial Cricket Conference (now the International Cricket Council) on 31 May 1926. On 25 June 1932 it became the Test nation after England, Australia, South Africa, the West Indies and New Zealand when they took on England at Lord's. They played only seven tests, which were all against England, before the Second World War, losing five matches and drawing twice. Their first game against other opposition came in 194749 when they played Australia. The Indian team's greatest successes came in 1983, when they won the Cricket World Cup under the captaincy of Kapil Dev, and 2011, when they won the world cup again under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Also, they won the Under-19 World Cup three times under the captaincy of Mohammad Kaif in 2000, 2008 under Virat Kohli and in 2012 under Unmukt Chand . Also, under the captaincy ofMahendra Singh Dhoni, India won the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup. India came runner-up in World Cup 2003

under Sourav Ganguly who has the record of most number of Indian test wins (11) under his leadership in overseas. The record of most number of Indian test wins (24) currently held under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Mithali Raj led India to its best result in Women's ODI cricket when the team advanced to the finals of the 2005 Women's Cricket World Cup. Raj is also one of the three women's captains who have led their side to a victory in women's Test cricket, the others being Shantha Rangaswamy and Mamatha Maben.

Men's cricket[edit]
Test match captains[edit]
India has played 473 Test Matches (as of 18 June 2013). This is the list of the 31 cricketers who have captained the Indian cricket team for at least one Test match. So far the current captainMahendra Singh Dhoni is the most successful Indian test captain with 26 wins. Ex-captain Sourav Ganguly is the most successful Indian test captain in overseas with 21 wins

India national women's cricket team

The Indian women's cricket team is the national women's cricket team of India. Despite the photos on this page, their uniforms are similar to the men's team. The Indian women's cricket team played their first Test match in 1976/1977, when they drew with the West Indies in a six-match series. The Indian women's cricket team won their first Asia Cup in 2004. Subsequently, they won 3 more Asia Cups. The Indian women's cricket team reached the finals of 2005 World Cup, losing to eventual [2] [3] champions, Australia. Mithali Raj is the current captain of the Indian Women's Cricket team.

History[edit]
Members of the Indian cricket team before aWomen's Cricket World Cup game in Sydney

The British brought cricket to India in the early 1700s, with the first cricket match played in 1721. The first Indian cricket club was established by the Parsi community in Bombay, in 1848; the club played their [5] first match against the Europeans in 1877. The first official Indian cricket team was formed in 1911 and [6] toured England, where they played English county teams. The India team made their Test debut [7] against England in 1932. Around the same time (1934), the first women's Test was played [8] between England and Australia. However, women's cricket arrived in India much later; the Women's [9] Cricket Association of India was formed in 1973. The Indian women's team played their first Test match [10] in 1976, against theWest Indies. As part of the International Cricket Council's initiative to develop women's cricket, the Women's Cricket Association of India was merged with theBoard of Control for Cricket in India in 2006.

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Indian Premier League

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a Twenty20 cricket championship league in India. It was initiated by Lalit Modi and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), after an altercation between the BCCI [1] [2][3] and the Indian Cricket League. The league is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and is [4] currently supervised by BCCI Vice-President Ranjib Biswal, who serves as the league's chairman and Commissioner. It is contested by nine teams as of 2013, consisting of players from around the cricketing world. The Premier League is generally considered to be the highest-profile showcase in the world for Twenty20 (T20) cricket, the shortest form of professional cricket with just 20 overs per innings, but the IPL is perhaps as well known for its commercial success as for the cricket played during the sixth IPL season, [5] in 2013, its brand value was estimated to be around US$2.99 billion. Live rights to the event are syndicated around the globe, and in 2010, the IPL became the first sporting [6] event to be broadcast live on YouTube. In 2012 the naming rights for the series was awarded [7] to Pepsi. Two eligible bids were received, with Pepsi winning over Airtel with a bid of

3968 million. However, the league has been the subject of several controversies where allegations of cricket betting, money laundering and spot fixing were witnessed

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History[edit]
The IPL is a Twenty20 cricket tournament which was inaugurated in 2008. During the same period Zee "Indian Cricket League" was operational. Twenty20 cricket was first introduced at a competitive level by the England and Wales cricket board in 2003 but the Indian Premier League is largely credited with being the institution that projected the format of the game onto the world stage.The Indian Premier League was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and has been an enormous success. The annual tournament, played in the months of April and May has gone from strength to strength and is largely viewed as being the 'richest' tournament in world cricket. There are the eight franchises that field teams to play in the IPL (in brackets original cost of franchise in $/million): Chennai Super Kings, CSK (91) Delhi Daredevils, DD (84) Kings XI Punjab, KXIP (76) Kolkata Knight Riders, KKR (75.1) Mumbai Indians, MI (0) Rajasthan Royals, RR (0) Royal Challengers Bangalore, RCB (111.6) Sunrisers Hyderbad, SRH (159)

The following three teams have played in the IPL but due to financial constraints have ceased to exist: Pune Warriors India, PWI (370) Kochi Tuskers Kerala, KTK (333) Deccan Chargers, DC (107)