The Rise of Indian Cricket is a wonderful journey . The Indian cricket team is monitored by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The BCCI is one of the wealthiest and most influential cricket boards in the World.It was founded in December 1928.
The Beginning of Rise of Indian Cricket
Cricket was introduced to India by the British in the 18th century .The first Cricket club in India is Calcutta Cricket Club Clippers Was established in 1792.
Indian cricket team did not play Cricket matches until 25 June 1932 at Lord’s ( England)
After 1932 India had to wait until 1952 almost 20 long years for their first victory
First fifty years of international cricket India was one of the weakest teams in Cricket World winning only 35 of the first 196 Cricket matches played.
The team, however, gained strength in the 1970’s with the entry of players like SunilGavaskar, KapilDev, Viswanathan, Roger Binny , Ravi Shastri ,Kirti Azad,Krishnamachari Srikkanth ….
1983 Cricket World Cup
The 1983 Cricket World Cup was Hosted by England and Wales from 9/June /1983 to 25 /June /1983
This Edition Featured Eight Teams :-
- Australia
- England
- India
- New-Zealand
- Pakistan
- Sri-Lanka
- West-Indies
- Zimbabwe
The initial matches had 2 groups with 4 teams each in a group.Every team played against each other twice
(60 overs per side ODI)
The top two teams from each group qualified for the semi-finals
In 1975 and 1979 World Cup Indian team had only won one match and lost every other match but surprisingly India reached their first World Cup final by defeating England by 6 wickets in the SemiFinal on 22/June / 1983 at Manchester.
In the other Side Mighty West Indies had reached the final by defeating Pakistan by 8 wickets in Semi-final
The Final of the 1983 Cricket World Cup was at Lord’s on 25 /June /1983
This was West Indies 3rd World Cup final and they had won the last two Titles.While India was playing in their first Final.
The cricketing world largely expected
Giant West Indies to Win but Underdog Indian team led by Kapil Dev surprised everyone by winning their first World Cup in 1983 at Lord’s.
This victory changed Indian cricket forever and inspired the whole nation.
God Graced the 22-yard pitch
On 15 November 1989 Cricket world witnessed a 16 year old boy from Mumbai named Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar made his international debut against Pakistan at Karachi and TheRest is History.
The Legendary Era
The early 2000’s were a Golden time for Indian cricket
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly also known as Dada ( it means big brother in Kolkata) became the captain of the Indian National cricket Men’s team. When India Cricket’s future was facing huge trouble due to the match-fixing scandal of 2000, it was a really dark chapter in Indian cricket history. It shocked the whole nation, but Sourav Ganguly’s leadership brought back trust in the Indian team and made them stronger and braver than ever before.
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly’s captaincy Era was known for his bold , Aggressive and confident style he trusted young players and gave them chances to prove for the team.
Under Sourav Ganguly players like Young Yuvraj Singh , Harbhajan Singh , Virender Sehwag , Zaheer Khan , Gautam Gambhir , Ashish Nehra , Dinesh Karthik and Mahendra Singh Dhoni started their careers. Ganguly’s belief in these youngsters helped them become key members of the National Cricket team. And also with the established players like Sachin Tendulkar , Rahul Dravid , Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman , Dinesh Mongia , Anil Kumble , Ajit Agarkar , and Mohammad Kaif
This made the team fearless and ready to take any challenges especially in foreign pitchesDada made the team believe that they could beat any team not only just at home pitch but also Foreign pitch also. Sourav Ganguly and his boys made the Indian team tough and ready to fight in any situation.This was really a Golden Generation for India National cricket Team .Dada’s captaincy era was a really turning point for Indian cricket history.
The Calm and Cool Era
In 2007 The International Cricket Council introduced a new World Cup format. The T20 format which is a 20 over perside ODI tournament.
The inaugural edition was hosted by South Africa. At that time The Indian cricket team was struggling due to inconsistent performances and they had been knocked out early in the group stage of the 2007 ICC Men’s 50 over ODI World Cup held in the West Indies.
Rahul Dravid was the captain of Team during that World Cup tournament.
Due to huge disappointment in the world cup Rahul Dravid has stepped down from captaincy and The Board of Control for Cricket in India has offered Captaincy to Sachin Tendulkar but he turned down politely and suggested young talent Mahendra Singh Dhoni as new Captain of Indian men’s National cricket team.
Team India entered the 2007 T20 world cup tournament with low expectations.Many of the Senior Players in Team did not participate in the tournament like Sachin Tendulkar , Rahul Dravid , and Sourav Ganguly
But the team had a mix of young talents like Gautam Gambhir , Yuvraj Singh , Robin Uthappa , Yusuf Pathan , Irfan Pathan
Shanthakumaran Nair Sreesanth , Harbhajan Singh , Rudra Pratap Singh , Joginder Sharma , Rohit Gurunath Sharma and Some experienced players .This gave an opportunity for young players to shine under the new Captain Mahandra Singh Dhoni.who had been appointed as a captain for the first time in a major tournament
And Hopeless India Entered the Final
The final was on 24 September 2007 at Wanderers Stadium Johannesburg South Africa. It was an exciting match between India and Pakistan. India set a target of 158 runs in 20 over
Pakistan needed 13 runs from one over with one wicket remaining. Joginder Sharma bowled the last over and at the endIndia won by 5 runs when Misbah ul Haq ( Pakistan cricketer) scoop shot in the last bowl was caught by Shanthakumaran Nair Sreesanth at short fine leg. What victory India the Champions of the World T20
Mahendra Singh Dhoni ‘s calm and Cool strategic Works throughout the tournament and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Captaincy was recognized worldwide in that tournament from there it was the beginning of a wonderful journey.