India Cricket
British seamen brought cricket to the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century, and the first cricket club was founded in 1792. On June 25, 1932, the Indian national cricket team competed in their first international game.
The British unintentionally discovered the Indian game of cricket.
While India was ruled by the British, a few Indians, such Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji, participated in the English cricket team. Before we begin with the history of Indian cricket as a whole, it’s vital to understand who is responsible for this fantastic past. British colonists brought cricket to India in 1700, and the first game was played there in 1721. The first cricket club founded by Indians was the Oriental Cricket Club, which was founded by the Parsi community in Bombay in 1848. Some Indian cricket players who represented England in the early 1900s included Ranjitsinhji and Duleepsinhji; as a result, the Ranji Trophy and the Duleep Trophy were named in their honour.
WHEN DID INDIA START PLAYING CRICKET?
English seaman Clement Downing, a member of the East India Company, made the earliest reference of cricket in India. He drew a lot of interest from the locals when he wrote about his adventures playing cricket with other seamen. The Calcutta Cricket Club, founded in 1792 by British expatriates from the East India Company, is the next instance of cricket being mentioned in India. The Oriental Cricket Club, largely regarded as the first community-based cricket club in India, was founded by the Parsis in 1848. Despite the Oriental Cricket Club’s brief existence, it served as a catalyst for the establishment of other Indian cricket clubs. The Young Zoroastrians Club opened in 1850, and the Hindu Gymkhana was founded by Hindus in 1866.
Ranji, also known as Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji Jadeja, rose to prominence as one of cricket’s most significant players and possibly the game’s best batsman.
SIR RANJITSINHJI VIBHAJI JADEJA, THE FATHER OF INDIAN CRICKET
Ranji, who was up in the village of Sadodar in the Indian state of Nawanagar, played cricket for the first time at Rajkumar College in 1883. At the age of 12, he was named captain the next year. Ranji set out for London in 1888 to enrol in Cambridge University. Ranji’s cricketing abilities significantly increased while he was a student at Cambridge, and soon he was playing first class cricket for Cambridge University and county cricket for Sussex. Ranji made his Test debut for England on July 16, 1896, after enjoying success at the county level. This move was highly divisive at the time.