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| First Test Team of India |
Cricket is undoubtedly one of the most popular sports in India and the game is being played all over the country, since its inception. The exact day, month or year of Cricket`s inception in India is still shrouded in mystery, as nobody knows about it. However, according to some people, the Indians started playing the game for the first time in an organized way in the year 1848. The first Indian Cricket club named the Parsee Oriental Cricket Club was founded in that year and they played their first match in Bombay (Mumbai). Thus Cricket started its journey in India. Hence, the history of Indian Cricket can be identified as quite an old one.
However, according to some other, the history of Indian Cricket started its journey in the place named Sylhet (located in today`s Bangladesh). A clear evident has been found to prove this and it is a match report published in the Sporting Intelligence magazine, on 3rd March, 1845. The report was published by the editor of the Englishman newspaper and the news item was titled as "Sepoy Cricketers". The reporter actually gave a wonderful commentary of a match played between the European cricketers and the Sepoy cricketers. Apart from this news item, another report has been found to support the fact that Cricket was first played in Sylhet in India. This report was titled as "Sepoy Cricket at Sylhet" and in this report, the reporter wrote about the match between two regimental sides, each of which contained at least eight native cricketers. The reporter also termed the match to probably be the best contested encounter of that particular season. He also declared that "as usual the bowling of Sepoy Soophul was first rate..."
After its inception, Cricket started to get popularity among the Indian people within a short period of time. The middle and last half of the nineteenth 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. Many teams from England started touring India by the close of the nineteenth century. There is a report published in the newspaper, `The Times of India` that supports this fact and the report was about the Presidency matches between the Parsees and the Lord Hawke`s Englishmen. The match was held in Bombay in 1892. The report described how the international Cricket matches that took place in Bombay at that time, increased interest among the local people. In the Metro cities of India like Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai), Cricket was started to be played by the first half of the twentieth century. As the Hindus of India too started playing the game, the tournament of Bombay Presidency Matches became the Bombay Triangular in 1907-08. In 1912-13, the entry of the Muslims made it a quadrangular.
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. However, the first international exposure in the history of Indian Cricket came in the year 1926. In that year, a team from the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), led by A.E.R Gilligan toured India. Though it was an unofficial tour, the Indian people were quite interested and enthusiastic about the matches that MCC played during the tour. The legendary Indian cricket player, C. K. Nayudu played brilliantly during that tour and he also scored a century against the MCC side in Bombay. The tour was responsible to redefine the contours of Indian cricket. It ultimately spearheaded to the formation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the year 1928. India was accredited Test status by 1932, much before it got its Independence in 1947. India played against England in that year.
However, according to some other, the history of Indian Cricket started its journey in the place named Sylhet (located in today`s Bangladesh). A clear evident has been found to prove this and it is a match report published in the Sporting Intelligence magazine, on 3rd March, 1845. The report was published by the editor of the Englishman newspaper and the news item was titled as "Sepoy Cricketers". The reporter actually gave a wonderful commentary of a match played between the European cricketers and the Sepoy cricketers. Apart from this news item, another report has been found to support the fact that Cricket was first played in Sylhet in India. This report was titled as "Sepoy Cricket at Sylhet" and in this report, the reporter wrote about the match between two regimental sides, each of which contained at least eight native cricketers. The reporter also termed the match to probably be the best contested encounter of that particular season. He also declared that "as usual the bowling of Sepoy Soophul was first rate..."
After its inception, Cricket started to get popularity among the Indian people within a short period of time. The middle and last half of the nineteenth 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. Many teams from England started touring India by the close of the nineteenth century. There is a report published in the newspaper, `The Times of India` that supports this fact and the report was about the Presidency matches between the Parsees and the Lord Hawke`s Englishmen. The match was held in Bombay in 1892. The report described how the international Cricket matches that took place in Bombay at that time, increased interest among the local people. In the Metro cities of India like Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai), Cricket was started to be played by the first half of the twentieth century. As the Hindus of India too started playing the game, the tournament of Bombay Presidency Matches became the Bombay Triangular in 1907-08. In 1912-13, the entry of the Muslims made it a quadrangular.
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. However, the first international exposure in the history of Indian Cricket came in the year 1926. In that year, a team from the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), led by A.E.R Gilligan toured India. Though it was an unofficial tour, the Indian people were quite interested and enthusiastic about the matches that MCC played during the tour. The legendary Indian cricket player, C. K. Nayudu played brilliantly during that tour and he also scored a century against the MCC side in Bombay. The tour was responsible to redefine the contours of Indian cricket. It ultimately spearheaded to the formation of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in the year 1928. India was accredited Test status by 1932, much before it got its Independence in 1947. India played against England in that year.
