History of Indian Cricket reveals the fact that though the game was introduced by the British Government in India, its popularity kept on increasing with passing time. Cricket is now celebrated as a major sport in India. Cricket is considered to be a religion in India. There are no sure theories about the origin of Cricket in India but as British ruled on India for over 200 years, the game can be called as their legacy. The game took around four centuries to reach India. British brought this game to India in the 17th century. The first ever cricket match in India was played in 1721 AD. Initially accepted by the Parsi community, this game of foreigners began to appear in organized form with the establishment of the ‘Oriental Cricket Club’ in 1848.
India started playing Cricket way back in 1721 unofficially but was granted the official test status in 1932. They played their first test cricket match from 25th June to 28th June in the year 1932 against England at Lords' in London. India was lead by C.K. Nayuduat that time. India was considered a weak team in the Cricketing Circuit for long time but Indian team changed from 1950s and is a major force to reckon with today.
First Indian Cricket ClubThe first Indian Cricket club, named the Parsee Oriental Cricket Club, was founded in that year and they played their first match in Bombay (Mumbai). From this point, the journey of Indian cricket began. This cricket club of Mumbai marked the beginning of interest of Indian people in cricket. The first official cricket match was played between Parsis and Europeans in 1877 AD. Till late 19th century people of this country did not open their hearts to the game.
Indian Cricket in 20th Century
After its initiation, Cricket started gaining popularity among the Indian people within a short period of time. The middle and last half of the 19th century was an important period in the history of Indian Cricket, as the game spread its reach in almost all the parts of India during that period.
The First Test Match was played in 1932. Though India did not have a national cricket team during the early 1900s, a few Indian great cricketers of that era did represent the England cricket team. Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Duleep Singhji were the prominent ones among them.
