Though it was the British who introduced cricket to India, the game quickly became a hit in the country and among its neighbours like Pakistan and Srilanka, know its history in the country
The sport draws huge crowds in the country and if there is one thing common among Indians then it is their love for the sport.
A Brief History Of Cricket In India
Famous film producers in India have even gone so far as to direct movies based on the sport. Famous movies like “Lagaan” and “MS Dhoni: The Untold Story” are just a few examples of movies that showcase the united spirit of Indians when it comes to cricket.
In addition to movies based on cricket, Indian filmmakers are also famous for cricket-based OTT series like “InsideEdge”. The cricket betting market attracts a large pool of bettors as it is one of the top three sports in India. Finding the right betting sites can be a task. Check out a few legal betting sites found here: https://www.sportsbetting24.in/betting-sites/ before we dig deeper into the history of cricket in India.
History of Cricket in India
Cricket was first mentioned in 1721 when a sailor from one of the East India Company’s many commercial ships wrote in his diary that he and other crew members played the game of Kutch (as cricket was then known) while waiting for the cargo to be loaded.
You can also find a vivid picture of colonial cricket in Charles Dickens’ classic work The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. On March 18, 1845, the first formal cricket match was played between officers of the English colonial troops and sipahis; the professional infantrymen recruited in India.
Three years later, in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), the present capital city of Maharashtra, the first professional cricket club, the Parsee Oriental Cricket, was founded, laying the foundation for the development of organized cricket in India. The native Indians had initially been forbidden access to the club, with an exception for Parsees, who represented the influential Zoroastrian community.
In 1864, the Parsee Oriental Club hosted the first formal cricket match, which pitted teams from Madras and Calcutta against one another. The Indian players couldn’t buy their own gear at the time, so they had to rely on hand-me-downs from the Bombay Gymkhana, a cricket club exclusively for European colonists.
Despite these minor flaws, the Indians showed tremendous cricketing potential. Only three decades after the Oriental Club was founded, in 1895, an all-Indian cricket team competed against a professional English side captained by Lord Hawke. The first competitive cricket match was held as part of the Presidency matches program.
Cricket has been steadily growing in India since the early 1900s. Local rulers were so taken with the game that they invited European teachers to help Indian players improve their skills. The first Ranji Trophy was organized in 1934 by the Board of Control of Cricket, which is now the main national regulatory body for the sport. It is still one of India’s most popular cricket events. India won the first official Test match against England in 1952. Since then, India has maintained a prominent presence in international cricket.
India won their first Test series ever in England in 1971, and they went on to win the Cricket World Cup in 1983. Since 1985, India has held undisputed dominance in international cricket, winning 150 Tests, 11 One Day Internationals (winning two trophies in 1983 and 2011), 115 Twenty20 matches, and one T20 World Cup in 2007.
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