Cricket

History

 

Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji was an Indian who played for the English cricket team

Ranjitsinhji (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933),often known as Ranji, was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, as Maharaja Jam Sahib, and a noted Test cricketer who played for the English cricket team.He also played first-class cricket for Cambridge University.

Ranji is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Neville Cardus described him as “the Midsummer night’s dream of cricket”. Unorthodox in technique and with fast reactions, he brought a new style to batting and revolutionised the game. Previously, batsmen had generally pushed forward; Ranji took advantage of the improving quality of pitches in his era and played more on the back foot, both in defence and attack. He is particularly associated with one shot, the leg glance, which he invented or popularised. The first-class cricket tournament in India, the Ranji Trophy, was named in his honour and inaugurated in 1935 by the Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. His nephew Duleepsinhji followed Ranji’s path as a batsman playing first-class cricket in England and for the England cricket team.

 

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 in 1877. By 1912, the Parsis, Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims of Bombay played a quadrangular tournament 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 English county teams and not the English cricket team.India was invited into The Imperial Cricket 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 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 national cricket team of that time). Australia won the five-match series, 4–0.

India recorded their first Test victory, in their 24th match, against England at Madras (now Chennai) in 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 1967–68.

About Cricket

 

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 the International 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 in Calcutta in 1792, India’s national cricket team did not play its first Test match until 25 June 1932 at Lord’s. They became the sixth team to be granted Test cricket status.In its first fifty years of international cricket, India was one of the weaker teams in international 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, England and 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 only the third team after West Indies and Australia to have won the World Cup more 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 fifth in Tests, first in ODIs and second in T20Is by the ICC. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the current captain of the team in all forms of the game while Duncan Fletcher is the coach. Under the leadership of Dhoni, the Indian team has set a national record for most back-to-back ODI wins (nine straight wins)and has emerged as one of the most formidable teams in international cricket.The Indian cricket team also has rivalries with other Test-playing 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.