Cricket is by far the biggest sport in India and an integral part of the nation’s identity. There is a lot of history and legend about the sport so its interesting to look at how cricket in India became a national obsession.    

History of Cricket in India 

The sport dates back hundreds of years and was first brought over to India by the British in the early 18th century. The game became popular across the country, with different communities playing it everywhere from city streets to rural fields.

In 1848, the Oriental Cricket Club was founded, the first cricket club formed by Indians. The Europeans invited Indian clubs over to play against them and the sport’s popularity grew. In the early 1900s, cricket was becoming an international sport. It wasn’t until 1926 that India were invited to the International Cricket Council, making their test debut six years later. 

At this time, India’s national team had been playing county opposition for decades, but it took years for them to be recognised internationally. Their first test match was played at Lords, with India going on to lose to England by 158 runs. A year later, they hosted their first-ever cricket series, with England winning the series 2-0. 

After India became independent from England, their interest in cricket only grew. The international team won its first test match in 1952. At this time, cricket was mainly played by the elite and it was not necessarily a sport for everyone. Since then it t has become a unifying factor in the country and has broken down cultural barriers. 

People were able to play cricket pretty much anywhere and the sport was played all over the country. The success India has had internationally has made the sport even more popular, inspiring generations of future cricketers. It also helps that India has developed plenty of rivalries in the sport.

Today, cricket is played competitively across the country in all of the different formats. The top level is probably the Indian Premier League, the best domestic T20 league in the world. The historic Ranji Trophy is the Premier First Class competition that has produced countless international superstars. Cricket is so popular in India that the best players are some of the highest-profile celebrities in the country.

Indian National Team 

There is no doubt that the national team is the pride of India. With millions of cricketers to choose from, its understandable why they have a great international team. What might be surpising though is that India started off unsuccessfully, losing their first 23 test matches against international teams. 

The successful team that you see today went through many years of losing. Those early years included a 5-0 whitewash to England, although they were able to get payback a few years later with their first-ever test series victory against the country that brought the game to India. It was really the 1960s when India became an international force. 

They defeated New Zealand at home, but continued to struggle when they went overseas. The reasoning was that few other major countries had the same pitch conditions that India had. They were not playing on the greener pitches of England, New Zealand and Australia which caused them to really struggle. 

India did have a brilliant away series, beating the Kiwis in New Zealand and helping their reputation massively. It is probably no surprise to hear that as cricket became more popular in India, the National Team only got better. 

By the 1980s, they were competing around the world in both Test Match cricket and ODIs. While India originally struggled with limited-overs cricket, they certainly grew into it. They failed to get out of the Group Stage in the first two Cricket World Cups. But in the third tournament, Roger Binny and Kapil Dev led their country to their first title. 

A year later, India won the Asia Cup for the first time, winning both of their games in the tournament. They continued to struggle outside of the subcontinent but became even more dominant whenever they played against visiting teams who were touring India. Their attacking batting made them a talented limited-overs team. 

The 1990s was the decade of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble, with India winning the Asia Cup twice but struggling to compete on the international stage. Despite a match-fixing scandal, the early 2000s were a better decade for India, with the team massively improving under Sourav Ganguly. 

They took a big risk appointing John Wright as coach and it eventually led to them winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2002. A couple of years later, they beat Pakistan 2-1 in a highly heated series between two of the biggest rivals in the sport. 

The 2010s only brought more success. As hosts of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, India won for the second time. Today, they are one of the most successful teams in the world, dominating in test cricket against the best international teams. 

Best Players 

Sachin Tendulkar 

Mumbai’s Sachin Tendulkar is the most prolific batsman of all time, being the highest run scorer in both test and ODI cricket. He was part of the Indian team that won the 2011 Cricket World Cup and the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy. He is one of the biggest celebrities in India because of the incredible career he had. 

Virat Kohli 

The biggest star in cricket at the moment, Kohli is a former captain of the Indian National team who has scored thousands of runs for his country. Kohli has often been ranked as the best batsman in the world.

Anil Kumble 

By far the best bowler that India has ever had, Kumble was impossible to play against on the subcontinent. He is the top wicket-taker in test cricket for India, with his flipper being one of the most dangerous balls in history. A phenomenal spinner who has even had a successful coaching career.