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India national cricket team

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India
Nickname(s) Men in Blue, Team India
Association Board of Control for Cricket in India
Personnel
Captain Virat Kohli
Coach Ravi Shastri
History
Test status acquired 1932
International Cricket Council
ICC status Full member (1926)
ICC region Asia
ICC Rankings Current [1] Best-ever
Test 1st 1st
ODI 2nd 1st
T20I 2nd 1st
Tests
First Test v  England at Lord's, London; 25–28 June 1932
Last Test v  England at The Oval, London; 7–11 September 2018
Tests Played Won/Lost
Total [2] 527 146/164
(216 draws, 1 tie)
This year [3] 7 3/6
(0 draws)
One Day Internationals
First ODI v  England at Headingley, Leeds; 13 July 1974
Last ODI v  Hong Kong at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai; 18 September 2018
ODIs Played Won/Lost
Total [4] 943 485/411
(7 ties, 40 no result)
This year [5] 10 7/3
(0 ties, 0 no result)
World Cup Appearances 11 (first in 1975)
Best result Champions (1983, 2011)
Twenty20 Internationals
First T20I v  South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg; 1 December 2006
Last T20I v  England at the Bristol County Ground, Bristol; 8 July 2018
T20Is Played Won/Lost
Total [6] 102 64/36
(1 tie, 2 no result)
This year [7] 8 6/2
(0 ties, 0 no result)
World Twenty20 Appearances 6 (first in 2007)
Best result Champions (2007)

Test kit

Kit left arm thin navyhoops.png
Kit right arm thin navyhoops.png

ODI kit

T20I kit

As of 18 September 2018

The India national cricket team, also known as Team India and Men in Blue, is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) status.

Although cricket was introduced to India by European merchant sailors in the 18th century, and the first cricket club was established in Calcutta (currently known as Kolkata) in 1792, India's national cricket team did not play its first Test match until 25 June 1932 at Lord's, becoming the sixth team to be granted Test cricket status. In its first fifty years of international cricket, India was one of the weaker teams, winning only 35 of the first 196 Test matches it played. From 1932 India had to wait until 1952, almost 20 years for its first Test victory. The team, however, gained strength in the 1970s with the emergence of players such as batsmen Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath, all-rounder Kapil Dev and the Indian spin quartet of Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Bishen Singh Bedi.

Traditionally much stronger at home than abroad, the Indian team has improved its overseas form, especially in limited-overs cricket, since the start of the 21st century, winning Test matches in Australia, England and South Africa. It has won the Cricket World Cup twice – in 1983 under the captaincy of Kapil Dev and in 2011 under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. After winning the 2011 World Cup, India became only the third team after West Indies and Australia to have won the World Cup more than once,[8] and the first cricket team to win the World Cup at home. It also won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. It was also the joint champions of 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, along with Sri Lanka.

As of 2 May 2018, India is ranked first in Test 2nd in ODIs and third in T20Is by the ICC.[9] Virat Kohli is the current captain of the team across all formats, while the head coach is Ravi Shastri.[10] The Indian cricket team has rivalries with other Test-playing nations, most notably with Pakistan, the political arch-rival of India. However, in recent times, rivalries with nations like Australia, South Africa and England have also gained prominence.

History

Main article: History of the Indian cricket team

Early history

Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji Jadeja was an Indian who played for the English cricket team
See also: History of cricket in India to 1918

The British brought cricket to India in the early 1700s, with the first cricket match played in 1721.[11] In 1848, the Parsi community in Bombay formed the Oriental Cricket Club, the first cricket club to be established by Indians. After slow beginnings, the Europeans eventually invited the Parsis to play a match in 1877.[12] By 1912, the Parsis, Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims of Bombay played a quadrangular tournament with the Europeans every year.[12] In the early 1900s, some Indians went on to play for the England cricket team. Some of these, such as Ranjitsinhji and KS Duleepsinhji were greatly appreciated by the British and their names went on to be used for the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy – two major first-class tournaments in India. In 1911, an Indian team went on their first official tour of the British Isles, but only played English county teams and not the England cricket team.[13]

Test match status

See also: History of cricket in India from 1918-19 to 1945, History of cricket in India from 1945–46 to 1960, and History of cricket in India from 1960–61 to 1970

India was invited to The Imperial Cricket Council in 1926, and made their debut as a Test playing nation in England in 1932, led by CK Nayudu, who was considered as the best Indian batsman at the time.[14] The one-off Test match between the two sides was played at Lord's in London. The team was not strong in their batting at this point and went on to lose by 158 runs.[15] In 1933, the first Test series in India was played between India and England with matches in Bombay, Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Madras (now Chennai). England won the series 2–0.[16] The Indian team continued to improve throughout the 1930s and '40s but did not achieve an international victory during this period. In the early 1940s, India didn't play any Test cricket due to the Second World War. The team's first series as an independent country was in late 1947 against Sir Donald Bradman's Invincibles (a name given to the Australia national cricket team of that time). It was also the first Test series India played which was not against England. Australia won the five-match series 4–0, with Bradman tormenting the Indian bowling in his final Australian summer.[17] India subsequently played their first Test series at home not against England against the West Indies in 1948. West Indies won the 5-Test series 1–0.[18]

India recorded their first Test victory, in their 24th match, against England at Madras in 1952.[19] Later in the same year, they won their first Test series, which was against Pakistan.[20] They continued their improvement throughout the early 1950s with a series win against New Zealand in 1956. However, they did not win again in the remainder of the decade and lost badly to strong Australian and English sides. On 24 August 1959, India lost by an innings in the Test to complete the only 5–0 whitewash ever inflicted by England. The next decade saw India's reputation develop as a team with a strong record at home. They won their first Test series against England at home in 1961–62 and also won a home series against New Zealand. They managed to draw home series against Pakistan and Australia and another series against England. In this same period, India also won its first series outside the subcontinent, against New Zealand in 1967–68.

Panoramic View of the Eden Gardens Stadium during IPL 2008

The key to India's bowling in the 1970s were the Indian spin quartet – Bishen Bedi, E.A.S. Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan. This period also saw the emergence of two of India's best ever batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath. Indian pitches have had the tendency to support spin and the spin quartet exploited this to create collapses in opposing batting line-ups. These players were responsible for the back-to-back series wins in 1971 in the West Indies and in England, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar. Gavaskar scored 774 runs in the West Indian series while Dilip Sardesai's 112 played a big part in their one Test win.

One-Day cricket and World Cup success

See also: History of cricket in India from 1970–71 to 1985
A graph showing India's Test match results against all Test match teams from 1932 to September 2006

The advent of One Day International (ODI) cricket in 1971 created a new dimension in the cricket world. However, India was not considered strong in ODIs at this point and batsmen such as the captain Gavaskar were known for their defensive approach to batting. India began as a weak team in ODIs and did not qualify for the second round in the first two editions of the Cricket World Cup. Gavaskar infamously blocked his way to 36 not out off 174 balls against England in the first World Cup in 1975, India scored just 132 for 3 and lost by 202 runs.

In contrast, India fielded a strong team in Test matches and was particularly strong at home, where their combination of stylish batsmen and beguiling spinners were at their best. India set a then Test record in the third Test against the West Indies at Port-of-Spain in 1976, when they chased 403 to win, thanks to 112 from Viswanath. This West Indian defeat is considered to be a watershed in the history of their cricket because it led to captain Clive Lloyd dispensing with spin altogether and relying entirely on a four-man pace attack instead. In November 1976, the team established another record by scoring 524 for 9 declared against New Zealand at Kanpur without any individual batsman scoring a century. There were six fifties, the highest being 70 by Mohinder Amarnath. This innings was only the eighth instance in Test cricket where all eleven batsmen reached double figures.

During the 1980s, India developed a more attack-minded batting line-up with stroke makers such as the wristy Mohammed Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar and all-rounders Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri. India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983, defeating the favourites and the two-time defending champions West Indies in the final at Lords, owing to a strong bowling performance. In spite of this, the team performed poorly in the Test arena, including 28 consecutive Test matches without a victory. In 1984, India won the Asia Cup and in 1985, won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia. Apart from this, India remained a weak team outside the Indian subcontinent. India's Test series victory in 1986 against England remained the last Test series win by India outside the subcontinent for the next 19 years. The 1980s saw Gavaskar and Kapil Dev (India's best all-rounder to date) at the pinnacle of their careers. Gavaskar made a Test record 34 centuries as he became the first man to reach the 10,000 run mark. Kapil Dev later became the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 434 wickets. The period was also marked by an unstable leadership, with Gavaskar and Kapil exchanging the captaincy several times.

Late 20th century

See also: History of cricket in India from 1985–86 to 2000
With 619 wickets, Anil Kumble is the world's third highest wicket-taker in Tests and India's highest Test and ODI wicket taker .[21]

The addition of Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble to the national side in 1989 and 1990 further improved the team. The following year, Javagal Srinath, India's fastest bowler since Amar Singh made his debut. Despite this, during the 1990s, India did not win any of its 33 Tests outside the subcontinent while it won 17 out of its 30 Tests at home. After being eliminated by neighbours Sri Lanka on home soil at the 1996 Cricket World Cup semifinal, the team underwent a year of change as Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, later to become captains of the team, made their debut in the same Test at Lord's. Tendulkar replaced Azharuddin as captain in late 1996, but after a personal and team form slump, Tendulkar relinquished the captaincy and Azharuddin was reinstated at the beginning of 1998. With the captaincy burden removed, Tendulkar was the world's leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs, as India enjoyed a home Test series win over Australia, the best-ranked team in the world.

After failing to reach the semifinals at the 1999 Cricket World Cup, Tendulkar was again made captain, and had another poor run, losing 3–0 on a tour of Australia and then 2–0 at home to South Africa. Tendulkar resigned, vowing never to captain the team again. Ganguly was appointed the new captain and the team was further damaged in 2000 when former captain Azharuddin and fellow batsman Ajay Jadeja were implicated in a match-fixing scandal and given life and five years bans respectively. This period was described by the BBC as "the Indian cricket's worst hour". However, the new core – Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble and Ganguly – swore not to let this happen to them again, and lead Indian cricket out of the dark times. And the first three put aside personal ambitions to let Ganguly lead them into a new era.[22]

Turn of the millennium

See also: History of cricket in India from 2000–01

Since 2000, the Indian team underwent major improvements with the appointment of John Wright as India's first ever foreign coach. India maintained their unbeaten home record against Australia in Test series after defeating them in 2001. The series was famous for the Kolkata Test match, in which India became only the third team in the history of Test cricket to win a Test match after following on. Australian captain Steve Waugh labelled India as the "Final Frontier" as a result of his side's inability to win a Test series in India.[23] Victory in 2001 against the Australians marked the beginning of a dream run for India under their captain Ganguly, winning Test matches in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies and England. The England series is also known for India's highest ODI run-chase of 325 runs at Lord's which came in the Natwest ODI Series final against England. In the same year, India were joint-winners of the ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka and then went to the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa where they reached the final, only to be beaten by Australia. The 2003–04 season also saw India play out a Test series in Australia where they drew 1–1 with the world champions, and then win a Test and ODI series in Pakistan.

The Indian cricket team in action in the Wankhede Stadium

At the end of the 2004 season, India suffered from lack of form and fitness from its older players. A defeat in a following home Test series against Australia was followed by an ODI home series defeat against Pakistan followed by a Test series levelled 1–1. Greg Chappell took over from John Wright as the coach of the Indian cricket team following the series, and his methods proved to be controversial during the beginning of his tenure. The tension resulted in a fallout between Chappell and Ganguly, resulting in Rahul Dravid being made captain. This triggered a revival in the team's fortunes, following the emergence of players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, and the coming of age of players like Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh. A thumping home series victory over Sri Lanka in 2005 and a drawn series with South Africa put India at second place in the ICC ODI rankings. Dravid, Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were selected to play for the ICC World XI in the 2005 "SuperTest" against Australia. A convincing ODI series win in Pakistan in early 2006, following a loss in the Test series, gave India the world record of 17 successive ODI victories while batting second.[24] Towards the middle of 2006, however, a 4–1 series loss in the West Indies gave rise to a slump in India's ODI form, while they achieved a 1–0 victory in the Test series that followed, giving them their first Test series victory in the Caribbean since 1971. India's ODI form slumped further with a disappointing performance in the 2006 Champions Trophy and a drubbing in the ODI series in South Africa. This was followed yet again by an initial good performance in the Tests, giving India its first Test match win in South Africa, although they went on to lose the series 2–1. This Test series was marked by Ganguly's comeback to the Indian team.[25]

In December 2006, India played and won its first ever Twenty20 international in South Africa, becoming the most recent Test team to play Twenty20 cricket. The beginning of 2007 had seen a revival in the Indian team's ODI fortunes before the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Series victories against the West Indies and Sri Lanka, marked by the comeback of Ganguly, and strong form by Tendulkar, and the emergence of young players like Robin Uthappa saw many pundits to tip India as a real contender to win the 2007 Cricket World Cup. However, defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka saw India fail to reach the second round.

Success under Dhoni

After winning the Test series against England in August 2007, Dravid stepped down as the captain of the team, following which Dhoni was made the captain of the Twenty20 and ODI team. In September 2007, India won the first-ever Twenty20 World Cup held in South Africa, beating Pakistan by 5 runs in the final. In 2007–08, they toured Australia where India lost the highly controversial home Test series 2–1 but managed to win the CB series the following month with a whitewash final of Australia.

In April 2009, India secured their first Test series win in New Zealand in 41 years. After beating Sri Lanka 2–0 in December 2009, India became the No. 1 Test team in the world. They retained the ranking by drawing series against South Africa and Sri Lanka. In October 2010, India whitewashed Australia 2–0 in the home test series, giving them back-to-back series wins against them. Later that year, India managed to draw the Test series in South Africa at 1–1.[26]

India's results in international matches
  Matches Won Lost Drawn Tied No result Inaugural Match Latest Match
Test[27] 522 145 160 216 1 – 25 June 1932 15 June 2018
ODI[28] 939 483 409 – 7 40 13 July 1974 16 February 2018
T20I[29] 99 61 35 – 1 2 1 December 2006 18 March 2018

On 2 April 2011, India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka in the final, thus becoming the third team after West Indies and Australia to win the World Cup twice, the previous win being in 1983. Gautam Gambhir and the skipper Dhoni led the way with 97 and 91* respectively.[30] India also became the first team to win the World Cup on home soil.

India were whitewashed 4–0 in away Test series by England in August 2011 due to which England replaced India as the No. 1 Test team in the rankings.[31] This series was followed by another 4–0 whitewash of India in January 2012 in Australia. The disastrous whitewashes saw the retirement of Dravid and VVS Laxman from Test cricket in 2012. Tendulkar retired in November 2013 after his 200th Test match. With Ganguly having retired in 2008, this period signalled the end of the fabled middle-order batting line-up India had for a decade. 2012 signalled a rough period for Indian cricket as they were beaten 2–1 by England at home in the Test series. This was the first Team India were beaten by England at home in the modern era. This was followed by a 2–1 loss in the ODI series against Pakistan, India's arch-rivals, at home. India was then knocked out in the second round of the 2012 ICC World Twenty20. India also failed to qualify for the 2012 Asia Cup final which closed out a disappointing 2012 for the Indian cricket team. 2013 saw a resurgence in Indian cricket.

Worldwide limited-overs success

In early 2013, India returned the favour to Australia and whitewashed them 4–0 at home in a Test series. India then beat the Aussies 3–2 in the 7-match ODI series and won the one-off T20I. However, India lost heavily against New Zealand and South Africa away from home and led to heavy criticism of Indian cricketers for not being able to perform overseas. India defeated England in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy final and Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first captain in history to win the three major ICC trophies, namely- ICC Cricket World Cup, ICC World Twenty20 and ICC Champions Trophy. This was followed by a victory in the West Indies Triangular Series in 2013 consisting of India, West Indies and Sri Lanka. In 2014, India toured Bangladesh and England. Although they beat the former 2–0 in 3 One Day Internationals, Team India were beaten 3–1 in 5 Test matches by England. This series included a famous win for the Indian team in the first match of the series at Lord's. The Test series was followed by a 3–1 win for the Indians in a 5-match ODI series and a loss in a one-off T20, both against England.

India failed to reach the final of the Asia Cup yet again in 2014. In the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 hosted in Bangladesh, India narrowly missed out on another ICC trophy by losing to Sri Lanka in the final. This tournament saw the rise of Virat Kohli as one of the best limited overs batsmen in world cricket, as he was adjudged the man of the series. India soon comprehensively beat Sri Lanka and West Indies in ODI series to cement their position at the top of the ODI rankings. India toured Australia towards the end of 2014 for a 4-match Test series, which is remembered for MS Dhoni's sudden retirement from Test cricket after the end of the second Test. Virat Kohli was appointed as the captain of Team India in Test matches but he was unable to turn the series around and India lost 2–0. Kohli's first series win as captain came away from home in a 3-match Test series vs Sri Lanka, which signalled the beginning of an unbeaten Test series run for India.

Dominance at home 2016-17 season

2015 saw the beginning of India's dominance at home in Test matches under new captain Virat Kohli when they comprehensively beat South Africa. This series was the beginning of an unbeaten streak of 19 Test matches for India which was brought to an end by Australia in early 2017. This series also saw the emergence of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as two of the best spinners and all-rounders. They spun webs around touring batsmen, much like the spinning quartet of the 1970s. This was followed by limited overs victories over Australia and Sri Lanka away from home. India was knocked out of the 2015 World Cup in the semi-final stage, to eventual winners Australia. India began 2016 by winning the 2016 Asia Cup, remaining unbeaten throughout the tournament, beating Pakistan along the way. India were favourites to win the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 which was being held at home, but they lost in the semi-final to eventual champions West Indies. Virat Kohli was again named the man of the series.

In 2016, "The Grand Home Season" began for India, including series at home against New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia. India whitewashed New Zealand to regain the number one ranking in Test cricket after almost 10 years. Before the series against England in November 2016, MS Dhoni resigned as captain of India in limited overs, thus handing the captaincy to Virat Kohli across all formats. India beat England across all three formats, with a notable 4–0 win in the Test series. This was followed by Test series wins against Bangladesh and Australia, which meant India reclaimed the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest cricketer of all time to reach 250 wickets; he and Ravindra Jadeja occupied the top two spots in both the ICC Bowlers and All-Rounders rankings at the time. In the process, India became the third team (after South Africa and Australia) to have won their most recent Test series against all the other Test-playing nations. India holds an unbeaten streak of 8 consecutive Test series wins as of 19 August 2017.

India defeated Pakistan in their first game of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, winning by a convincing 124-run margin,[32] but lost their second game of the group against Sri Lanka by 7 wickets despite posting a total of 321.[33] In their final group game against South Africa, a must-win encounter, India won comfortably and sealed a spot in the semi-finals, against Bangladesh.[34] India comfortably won the match by 9 wickets, and faced arch-rivals Pakistan in the final, the first time they had met at this stage of a tournament since 2007.[35] In an anti-climax, considering India were the clear favourites, Pakistan defeated India comfortably by 180 runs in the final, outclassing them across all three departments.[36]

India beat the West Indies 3–1 in a 5-match ODI series in the Caribbean in July 2017,[37] but lost to the same opposition in a one-off T20I.[38] India then toured Sri Lanka, and comprehensively defeated them 3-0 in a three-match Test series, the first time India had whitewashed a team away from home in a Test series with at least three games.[39]

Governing body

Main article: Board of Control for Cricket in India

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the governing body for the Indian cricket team and first-class cricket in India. The Board has been operating since 1929 and represents India at the International Cricket Council. It is amongst the richest sporting organisations in the world. It sold media rights for India's matches from 2006–2010 for US$612,000,000.[40] It manages the Indian team's sponsorships, its future tours and team selection.

The International Cricket Council determines India's upcoming matches through its future tours program. However, the BCCI, with its influential financial position in the cricketing world, has often challenged the ICC's program and called for more series between India, Australia and England which are more likely to earn more revenue as opposed to tours with Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.[41] In the past, the BCCI has also come into conflict with the ICC regarding sponsorships[42] and the legitimacy of the ICC Champions Trophy.

Selection committee

Main article: Indian national cricket selectors

Selection for the Indian cricket team occurs through the BCCI's zonal selection policy, where each of the five zones is represented with one selector and one of the members nominated by BCCI as the Chairman of the selection committee. This has sometimes led to controversy as to whether these selectors are biased towards their zones.[43]

The current chairman of the selection committee is M. S. K. Prasad. Devang Gandhi, Sarandeep Singh, Jatin Paranjpe, and Gagan Khoda are the other members of the selection committee from 21 September 2016.

Team colours

Period/Tournament Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
1987 World Cup Power None
1992 World Cup ISC None
1993-1996 None Wills
1996 World Cup
1999 World Cup ASICS
1999-2001 None
2001-2002 ITC Hotels
2002-2003 Sahara
2003 World Cup Aamby Valley
2003-2005 Sahara
2005-2013 Nike
2014-2017 Star India
2017-2022 Oppo

Since colours have made their way into international cricket, the Indian cricket team has chosen blue as their primary colour and orange/red as their secondary colour and have worn one or the other shade of blue. The blue colour of their uniform has also earned them the nickname of "Men in Blue". With the advent of the World Series Cup in the 1970s, each team was to don a primary and secondary colour on their uniforms. The Indian team elected to wear light-blue as their primary colour and yellow as their secondary colour. Even during the 1999 Cricket World Cup, the secondary colour on the Indian cricket team's clothing was yellow. However, this has since been replaced with the tricolour. In the past, the Indian ODI outfits were changed to different shades of blue, mostly darker than the current,[44] and the team donned navy blue during 1992,[45] and then the sky blue colour for the next decade. Indian team has got a new kit from 2009 which is feroza blue with India written on it in orange.[46] From October 2010, the team is once again using a light blue shade though not as light as the previous sky blue one, with India written in orange, and shades of the tricolour at the sides. The kit sponsor for the Indian cricket team is Nike, which in 2005 bought the kit rights in a $27.2 million contract with BCCI.[47]

Due to their love for blue colour Nike with Board for Control of Cricket in India launched the mega campaign called "Bleed Blue" for the support of Indian team in 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup which turned out to be a huge success and people over the internet and places adopted this to cheer for India.[48]

A new ultramarine blue coloured jersey of the one-day cricket team was released on 20 October 2010[49] for the upcoming tours and ICC Cricket World Cup. The jersey has been designed by team's apparel and kit sponsor Nike. Previously, the Indian cricket team has worn a darker shade of blue and before that, the team has worn sky blue. The vertical tricolour band has been made on both sides in comparison to just one side in the previous shirt. OPPO, the manufacturer of Chinese electronics is the official team sponsor logo is on the central part of the jersey (above orange coloured INDIA logo) and on the right arm Nike logo is visible. The name and jersey number of the player are printed in orange at the back while on the chest the logo of BCCI is on the left side. The one-day cap was also sky blue with the BCCI logo on the front.

When playing first-class cricket, in addition to their cricket whites, Indian fielders sometimes wear a dark blue cap or a white wide-brimmed sun hat, with the BCCI logo in the center front. Helmets are also dark blue. Some players sport the Indian flag on their helmet. The current kit sponsor for the Indian team is Nike and current team sponsor is OPPO (since April, 2017).[50] Previously, the Indian team was sponsored by Star India (2014-2017),[51] Sahara India Pariwar (2002-2013) and Wills (1993-2002).

International grounds

Main article: List of international cricket grounds in India
See also: List of international cricket centuries on Indian cricket grounds and List of international cricket five-wicket hauls in Indian Grounds
Locations of all stadiums which have hosted at least four Test matches or 10 ODIs within India

There are numerous world-renowned cricket stadiums located in India. Most grounds are under the administration of various state cricket boards as opposed to being under the control of the BCCI. The Bombay Gymkhana was the first ground in India to host a full-scale cricket match featuring an Indian cricket team. This was between the Parsis and the Europeans in 1877. The first stadium to host a Test match in India was also the Gymkhana Ground in Bombay in 1933, the only Test it ever hosted. The second and third Tests in the 1933 series were hosted at Eden Gardens and Chepauk. The Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi was the first stadium to host a Test match after independence, a draw against the West Indies in 1948, the first of a 5-Test series. 21 stadiums in India have hosted at least one official Test match. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of world-class cricket stadiums in India, with multiple Test venues in Indore, Chandigarh Mohali, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Rajkot, Ranchi, Pune, Dharamshala and Nagpur.

Eden Gardens in Kolkata has hosted the most Tests, and also has the second-largest seating capacity of any cricket stadium in the world, being capable of holding more than 66,000 spectators. Founded in 1864, it is one of the most historical stadiums in India, having hosted numerous historical and controversial matches.[52] Other major stadiums in India include the Feroz Shah Kotla, which was established in 1883 and hosted memorable matches including Anil Kumble's ten wickets in an innings haul against Pakistan. For the last two years, the ground has been undergoing renovation.[53]

The Bombay Gymkhana hosted the first ever Test match in India which is the only Test it has hosted to date. Wankhede Stadium, established in 1974, has a capacity to hold 33,000 spectators and is currently the most popular venue in the city. It has hosted 24 Test matches. It was the unofficial successor of the Brabourne Stadium, which is also located in Mumbai. Mumbai is often considered the cricketing capital of India because of its fans and the talent it produces (see Mumbai cricket team) and thus the stadium regularly hosts major Test matches.[54] The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk is also considered to be an important historical Indian cricket ground, established in the early 1900s it was the site of India's first Test victory.[55]

List of venues

Stadium City Capacity First Used Tests ODIs T20Is Ref
Active Stadiums
Eden Gardens Kolkata 67,000 1934 41 30 6 [56]
Feroz Shah Kotla Ground Delhi 48,000 1948 34 24 5 [57]
M. A. Chidambaram Stadium Chepauk, Chennai 33,000 1934 32 21 1 [58]
Wankhede Stadium Mumbai 33,000 1975 25 21 6 [59]
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium Bangalore 40,000 1974 23 25 5 [60]
Green Park Kanpur 45,000 1952 22 15 1 [61]
Brabourne Stadium Mumbai 20,000 1948 18 8 1 [62]
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium Mohali 28,000 1994 13 24 4 [63]
Sardar Patel Stadium (Gujarat) Motera, Ahmedabad 54,000 1983 12 23 1 [64]
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium Nagpur 40,000 2008 6 8 11 [65]
Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium Hyderabad 55,000 2010 4 5 3 [66]
Barabati Stadium Cuttack 40,000 1987 2 18 2 [67]
Holkar Stadium Indore 30,000 2016 1 5 1 [68]
Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium Rajkot 28,000 2016 1 2 2 [69]
ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium Visakhapatnam 36,000 2016 1 7 1 [70]
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium Pune 33,000 2017 1 3 2 [71]
JSCA International Stadium Complex Ranchi 39,133 2017 1 4 2 [72]
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium Dharamshala 28,000 2017 1 4 8 [73]
Sawai Mansingh Stadium Jaipur 23,185 1987 1 19 — [74]
Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground Greater Noida 8,000 2017 0 5 3 [75]
Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Cricket Stadium Guwahati 40,000 2017 0 0 1 [76]
Greenfield International Stadium Thiruvananthapuram 55,000 2017 0 0 1 [77]
Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun Dehradun 25,000 2018 0 0 3 [78]
Former Stadiums
Nehru Stadium Chennai 1956 9 — — [79]
Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground Nagpur 35,000 1969 9 14 — [80]
Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium Hyderabad 30,000 1955 3 14 — [81]
Bombay Gymkhana Mumbai n/a 1933 1 — — [82]
Gandhi Stadium Jalandhar n/a 1983 1 3 — [83]
K. D. Singh Babu Stadium Lucknow 22,000 1994 1 1 — [84]
Sector 16 Stadium Chandigarh 16,000 1990 1 5 — [85]
University Ground Lucknow na 1952 1 — — [86]
Barkatullah Khan Stadium Jodhpur 40,000 2000 0 2 —
Captain Roop Singh Stadium Gwalior 45,000 1988 0 12 — [87]
Gandhi Sports Complex Ground Amritsar 16,000 1982 0 2 —
Indira Gandhi Stadium Vijayawada 25,000 2002 0 1 —
Indira Priyadarshini Stadium Visakhapatnam 25,000 1988 0 5 —
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium New Delhi 60,000 1984 0 2 —
Keenan Stadium Jamshedpur 19,000 1983 0 10 —
Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground Rajkot 15,000 1989 0 12 —
Moin-ul-Haq Stadium Patna 25,000 1993 0 3 —
Moti Bagh Stadium Vadodara 18,000 1983 0 3 —
Nahar Singh Stadium Faridabad 25,000 1988 0 8 —
Nehru Stadium Guwahati 15,000 1983 0 14 — [88]
Nehru Stadium Indore 25,000 1983 0 9 —
Nehru Stadium Kochi 60,000 1998 0 9 —
Nehru Stadium Margao 25,000 1989 0 7 —
Nehru Stadium Pune 25,000 1984 0 11 — [89]
IPCL Sports Complex Ground Vadodara 20,000 1994 0 10 —
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad Ahmedabad 50,000 1981 0 1 — [90]
Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium Srinagar n/a 1983 0 2 —
University Stadium Thiruvananthapuram 20,000 1984 0 2 —

Updated on 25 June 2018 [91]

Captains

Main article: List of India national cricket captains

Thirty-two men have captained the Indian cricket team in at least one Test match, although only six have led the team in more than 25 matches, and six have captained the team in ODIs but not Tests. India's first captain was CK Nayudu, who led the team in four matches against England: one in England in 1932 and a series of three matches at home in 1933–34. Lala Amarnath, India's fourth captain, led the team in its first Test match after Indian independence. He also captained the side to its first Test victory and first series win, both in a three-match series at home against Pakistan in 1952–53. From 1952 until 1961–62, India had a number of captains such as Vijay Hazare, Polly Umrigar and Nari Contractor.

The Nawab of Pataudi, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was the team's captain for 36 Test matches from 1961–62 to 1969–70, returning for another four matches against West Indies in 1974–75. In the early years of his captaincy tenure, the team was whitewashed in the West Indies, England and Australia. However, in 1967–68, Pataudi led India on its maiden New Zealand tour, which ended in India winning the Test series 3–1. In 1970–71, Ajit Wadekar took over the captaincy from Pataudi. Under Wadekar's captaincy, India registered its first Test series win in the West Indies and England. India played its first ODI in 1974, also under his captaincy. India won its first ODI under the captaincy of Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan in the 1975 Cricket World Cup, against East Africa. Between 1975–76 and 1978–79, Bishen Singh Bedi captained the team in 22 Tests and 4 ODIs, winning 6 Tests and one ODI.

Sunil Gavaskar took over as Test and ODI captain in 1978–79, leading India in 47 Test matches and 37 ODIs, winning 9 Tests and 14 ODIs. He was succeeded by Kapil Dev in the 1980s, who captained for 34 Test matches, including 4 victories. Kapil Dev led India to victory in 39 of his 74 ODIs in charge, including the 1983 Cricket World Cup. Kapil Dev also captained India's 2–0 Test series victory in England in 1986. Between 1987–88 and 1989–90, India had three captains in Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri and Krishnamachari Srikkanth. Vengsarkar took over the captaincy from Kapil Dev after the 1987 Cricket World Cup. Although he started with two centuries in his first series as captain, his captaincy period was turbulent[citation needed] and he lost the job following a disastrous tour of the West Indies in early-1989 and a stand-off with the Indian cricket board (BCCI).

India has had six regular Test captains since Mohammad Azharuddin took charge in 1989. Azharuddin led the team in 47 Test matches from 1989–90 to 1998–99, winning 14, and in 174 ODIs, winning 90. He was followed by Sachin Tendulkar, who captained the team in 25 Test matches and 73 ODIs in the late 1990s; Tendulkar was relatively unsuccessful[92][93] as a captain, winning only 4 Test matches and 23 ODIs. He was replaced as ODI captain by Ajay Jadeja and then by Sourav Ganguly.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni holds the record for most Tests wins (27) by an Indian captain.

Ganguly became the regular captain of the team in both Tests and ODIs in 2000. He remained captain until 2005–06 and became the then most successful Indian captain, winning 21 of his 49 Test matches in charge and 76 of his 146 ODIs. Under his captaincy, India became the joint-winners of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka, and the runners-up of the 2003 Cricket World Cup. India lost only three Tests at home under Ganguly and managed to draw Test series in England and Australia. Rahul Dravid took over as Test captain in 2005. In 2006, he led India to its first Test series victory in the West Indies in more than 30 years.

In September 2007, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named as the new captain of the ODI and T20I teams, after Dravid stepped down from the post. Soon after taking up the captaincy, Dhoni led the team to the inaugural World Twenty20 title. Anil Kumble was appointed Test captain in November 2007, but retired from international cricket in November 2008 after captaining in 14 Tests. Dhoni succeeded him as the Test captain, making him the captain in all formats. Under the captaincy of Dhoni, the Indian team held the number one position in the Test rankings for 21 months (from November 2009 to August 2011), and set a national record for most back-to-back ODI wins (nine straight wins).[94] Dhoni also led the team to victory in 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Thus, Dhoni became the first captain in history to win all three major ICC trophies, namely- ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011, ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 and ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. He is widely regarded as India's best ever captain. However, the team performed poorly in away Tests from 2011 to 2014 and Dhoni retired from Test cricket in December 2014, with Virat Kohli being named as the new Test captain. Dhoni resigned as captain of the ODI and T20 teams in January 2017 and Kohli succeeded him at the position.

Under Kohli's captaincy, India was unbeaten in 19 Test matches, starting from a 3–0 series win over New Zealand and ending with a 2–1 series win over Australia. India has an unbeaten streak of winning 9 consecutive Test series as of Dec 2017, starting with a 2–1 series win over Sri Lanka. India also became only the third team after Australia and South Africa to have won their most recent Test series simultaneously against all the other Test playing nations. As per winning percentage in Test matches, Kohli is India's most successful test captain, having won more than 61% of Test matches (at least 2 games).

Results and fixtures

The recent results and forthcoming fixtures of India in international cricket:

Bilateral series and tours
Date Against H/A/N Results [Matches]
Test ODI T20I
July–September 2017  Sri Lanka Away 3–0 [3] 5–0 [5] 1–0 [1]
September–October 2017  Australia Home – 4–1 [5] 1–1 [3]
October–November 2017  New Zealand Home – 2–1 [3] 2–1 [3]
November–December 2017  Sri Lanka Home 1–0 [3] 2–1 [3] 3–0 [3]
January–February 2018  South Africa Away 1–2 [3] 5–1 [6] 2–1 [3]
June 2018  Afghanistan Home 1–0 [1] – –
June 2018  Ireland Away – – 2–0 [2]
July–September 2018  England Away [5] 2–1 [3] 2–1 [3]
October–November 2018  West Indies Home [2] [5] [3]
November 2018–January 2019  Australia Away [4] [3] [3]
January–February 2019  New Zealand Away – [5] [3]
February–March 2019  Australia Home – [5] [2]
March 2019  Zimbabwe Home [1] [3] –
Multiteam series and tournaments
Date Series Format Position Results [Matches]
March 2018 Sri Lanka 2018 Nidahas Trophy T20I Winner 4–1 [5]
September 2018 United Arab Emirates 2018 Asia Cup ODI
May–July 2019 England 2019 Cricket World Cup ODI

Personnel

Squad

This lists all the players who have played for India in the past 12 months and the forms in which they have played. Correct as of 10 July 2018.

Key

  • C/G = Contract grade
  • S/N = Shirt number
Name Age Batting style Bowling style Domestic team Zone C/G[95][96] Forms S/N
Captain and middle-order batsman
Virat Kohli 29 Right-handed Right medium Delhi North A+ Test, ODI, T20I 18
Test vice-captain and middle-order batsman
Ajinkya Rahane 30 Right-handed Right medium Mumbai West A Test, ODI 27
ODI/T20I vice-captain and middle-order batsman
Rohit Sharma 31 Right-handed Off break Mumbai West A+ Test, ODI, T20I 45
Opening batsmen
Shikhar Dhawan 32 Left-handed Off break Delhi North A+ Test, ODI, T20I 25
Abhinav Mukund 28 Left-handed Leg break Tamil Nadu South – Test
K. L. Rahul 26 Right-handed Off break Karnataka South B Test, ODI, T20I 1
Murali Vijay 34 Right-handed Off break Tamil Nadu South A Test 8
Middle-order batsmen
Shreyas Iyer 23 Right-handed Leg break Mumbai West – ODI, T20I 41
Kedar Jadhav 33 Right-handed Off break Maharashtra West C ODI, T20I 81
Manish Pandey 29 Right-handed Right medium Karnataka South C ODI, T20I 9
Ambati Rayudu 32 Right-handed Off break Hyderabad South C ODI 5
Cheteshwar Pujara 30 Right-handed Leg break Saurashtra West A Test 16
Hanuma Vihari 24 Right-handed Off break Andhra South C Test
Suresh Raina 31 Left-handed Off break Uttar Pradesh Central C T20I 3
All-rounders
Ravichandran Ashwin 32 Right-handed Off break Tamil Nadu South A Test 99
Ravindra Jadeja 29 Left-handed Slow left arm Saurashtra West A Test 8
Hardik Pandya 24 Right-handed Right medium-fast Baroda West B Test, ODI, T20I 33
Axar Patel 24 Left-handed Slow left arm Gujarat West C ODI, T20I 20
Vijay Shankar 27 Right-handed Right medium Tamil Nadu South – T20I 59
Washington Sundar 18 Left-handed Off break Tamil Nadu South – ODI, T20I 55
Wicket-keepers
Mahendra Singh Dhoni 37 Right-handed Right medium Jharkhand East A ODI, T20I 7
Dinesh Karthik 33 Right-handed Off break Tamil Nadu South B Test, ODI, T20I 21
Rishabh Pant 20 Left-handed Delhi North C Test,T20I 77/47
Parthiv Patel 33 Left-handed Gujarat West C Test 42
Wriddhiman Saha 33 Right-handed Bengal East A Test 24
Pace bowlers
Jasprit Bumrah 24 Right-handed Right fast-medium Gujarat West A+ Test, ODI, T20I 93
Deepak Chahar 26 Right-handed Right medium-fast Rajasthan Central – T20I
Siddarth Kaul 28 Right-handed Right medium-fast Punjab North C T20I
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 28 Right-handed Right medium-fast Uttar Pradesh Central A+ Test, ODI, T20I 15
Mohammed Shami 28 Right-handed Right fast-medium Bengal East B Test, ODI 11
Ishant Sharma 30 Right-handed Right fast-medium Delhi North B Test 1
Mohammed Siraj 24 Right-handed Right medium-fast Hyderabad South – T20I 13
Shardul Thakur 26 Right-handed Right medium-fast Mumbai West C ODI, T20I 54
Khaleel Ahmed 20 Right-handed Left medium-fast Rajasthan West C ODI 13
Jaydev Unadkat 26 Right-handed Left medium-fast Saurashtra West – T20I 77
Umesh Yadav 30 Right-handed Right fast Vidarbha Central B Test, ODI, T20I 19
Spin bowlers
Yuzvendra Chahal 28 Right-handed Leg break Haryana North B ODI, T20I 3/6
Kuldeep Yadav 23 Left-handed Left arm chinaman Uttar Pradesh Central B Test, ODI, T20I 23

Other players with a central contract who have not played for India in the past 12 months: Karun Nair and Jayant Yadav (both Grade C)

The BCCI awards central contracts to its players, its pay graded according to the importance of the player. Players' salaries are as follows:

  • Grade A+ – ₹7 crore (US$974,848.00)
  • Grade A – ₹5 crore (US$696,000)
  • Grade B – ₹3 crore (US$418,000)
  • Grade C – ₹1 crore (US$139,000)

Players also receive a match fee of ₹15 lakh (US$21,000) per Test match, ₹6 lakh (US$8,400) per ODI, and ₹3 lakh (US$4,200) per T20I.[97]

Support staff

Tournament history

See also: India at the Cricket World Cup
World Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
England 1975 Round 1 6/8 3 1 2 0 0
England 1979 7/8 3 0 3 0 0
England 1983 Champions 1/8 8 6 2 0 0
IndiaPakistan 1987 Semi-finals 4/8 7 5 2 0 0
Australia New Zealand 1992 Round 1 7/9 8 2 5 0 1
India Pakistan Sri Lanka 1996 Semi-finals 4/12 7 4 3 0 0
United Kingdom Republic of Ireland Netherlands Scotland 1999 R2 (Super 6s) 6/12 8 4 4 0 0
South Africa Zimbabwe Kenya 2003 Runners-up 2/14 11 9 2 0 0
West Indies Cricket Board 2007 Round 1 10/16 3 1 2 0 0
IndiaSri LankaBangladesh 2011 Champions 1/14 9 7 1 1 0
Australia New Zealand 2015 Semi-finals 3/14 8 7 1 0 0
England Wales 2019 - – – – – – –
India 2023 - – – – – – –
Total 12/12 2 titles 75 46 27 1 1
World Twenty20 record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
South Africa 2007 Champions 1/12 7 4 1 1 1
England 2009 Super 8s 7/12 5 2 3 0 0
West Indies Cricket Board 2010 8/12 5 2 3 0 0
Sri Lanka 2012 5/12 5 4 1 0 0
Bangladesh 2014 Runners-up 2/16 6 5 1 0 0
India 2016 Semi-finals 3/16 5 3 2 0 0
Australia 2020 - - - - - - -
India 2021 - - - - - - -
Total 6/6 1 title 33 20 11 1 1

ICC Champions Trophy

Champions Trophy record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
Bangladesh 1998 Semi-finals 3/9 2 1 1 0 0
Kenya 2000 Runners-up 2/11 4 3 1 0 0
Sri Lanka 2002 Joint Champion 1/12 3 2 0 0 1
England 2004 Group Stage 7/12 2 1 1 0 0
India 2006 5/10 3 1 2 0 0
South Africa 2009 5/8 3 1 1 0 1
England 2013 Champion 1/8 5 5 0 0 0
England 2017 Runners-up 2/8 5 3 2 0 0
Total 2 Titles 8/8 27 17 8 0 2

Asia Cup

Asia Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L T NR
United Arab Emirates 1984 Champion 1/3 2 2 0 0 0
Sri Lanka 1986 Boycotted the tournament
Bangladesh 1988 Champion 1/4 4 3 1 0 0
India 1990–91 1/3 3 2 1 0 0
United Arab Emirates 1995 1/4 4 3 1 0 0
Sri Lanka 1997 Runners-up 2/4 3 1 1 0 1
Bangladesh 2000 First Round 3/4 3 1 2 0 0
Sri Lanka 2004 Runners-up 2/6 6 3 3 0 0
Pakistan 2008 2/6 6 4 2 0 0
Sri Lanka 2010 Champion 1/4 4 3 1 0 0
Bangladesh 2012 First Round 3/4 3 2 1 0 0
Bangladesh 2014 3/5 4 2 2 0 0
Bangladesh 2016 Champion 1/5 5 5 0 0 0
United Arab Emirates 2018 - - - - - - -
Total 6 titles 12/13 47 31 15 0 1

Other tournaments

Defunct Tournaments
Commonwealth Games† Hero Cup Asian Test Championship Austral-Asia Cup World Championship of Cricket

†Cricket was played only at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. †The Indian team that won the 1985 World Championship of Cricket was adjudged by Wisden as the 'Team of the Century'.

Individual records

Sachin Tendulkar celebrates his 38th Test century during a match against Australia in 2008. Tendulkar holds multiple world records including the world's leading run-scorer and century maker in both Tests and ODIs.[98]
Main article: Indian cricket team records
See also: List of Indian Test cricketers and List of Indian ODI cricketers

Sachin Tendulkar, who began playing for India as a 16-year-old in 1989 and has since become the most prolific run-scorer in the history of both Test and ODI cricket, holds a large number of national batting records. He holds the record of most appearances in both Tests and ODIs, most runs in both Tests and ODIs and most centuries in Tests and ODIs. The highest score by an Indian is the 319 scored by Virender Sehwag in Chennai. It is the second triple century in Test cricket by an Indian, the first being a 309 also made by Sehwag although against Pakistan. The team's highest ever score was a 759/7 against England at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai in 2016, while its lowest was 42 against England in 1974. In ODIs, the team's highest score is 418/5 against West Indies at Indore in 2011–12. India score 413–5 in a match against Bermuda in 2007 World Cup which is the highest score ever in Cricket World Cup history. In the same match, India set a world record of the highest winning margin in an ODI match of 257 runs.

India has also had some very strong bowling figures, with spin bowler Anil Kumble being a member of the elite group of 3 bowlers who have taken 600 Test wickets. In 1999, Anil Kumble emulated Jim Laker to become the second bowler to take all ten wickets in a Test match innings when he took 10 wickets for 74 runs against Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.

Many of the Indian cricket team's records are also world records, for example Sachin Tendulkar's century tally (in Tests and ODIs) and run tally (also in both Tests and ODIs). Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 183 not out against Sri Lanka in 2005 is the world record score by a wicketkeeper in ODIs. The Indian cricket team also holds the record sequence of 17 successful run-chases in ODIs,[99] which ended in a dramatic match against the West Indies in May 2006, which India lost by just 1 run when Yuvraj Singh was bowled by Dwayne Bravo's full toss.

Sachin Tendulkar was the first batsman to score 200 runs (he was unbeaten on 200 from 147 deliveries including 25x4 and 3x6) in a single ODI innings, on 24 February 2010 against South Africa in Gwalior. On 8 December 2011, this achievement was eclipsed by compatriot Virender Sehwag, who scored 219 runs from 149 deliveries (25x4 | 7x6) versus West Indies in Indore. On 13 November 2014 the record was broken by another Indian opening batsmen, Rohit Sharma, who scored 264 runs from 173 deliveries (33x4 | 9x6) against Sri Lanka in Kolkata. In 2013, MS Dhoni became the first captain in history to win all three major ICC trophies- ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011, ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 and ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.

In 2014, Virat Kohli became the first cricketer to win back-to-back man of the series awards in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 and 2014 ICC World Twenty20. In 2017, Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest cricketer in history to reach 250 wickets. He and Ravindra Jadeja are considered to be the best bowlers in Test cricket and occupy the top two spots in the rankings for Test bowlers as of May 2017. Virat Kohli became the first captain in history to score double tons in three consecutive series, against New Zealand, England and Bangladesh in 2017.

Statistics

Main article: Indian cricket team records
Further information: India national cricket team record by opponent

Tests

Main article: List of India Test cricket records

Test record versus other nations

Opponent Matches Won Lost Tied Draw W/L Ratio First Last
 Afghanistan 1 1 0 0 0 - 2018 2018
 Australia 94 26 41 1 26 0.63 1947 2017
 Bangladesh 9 7 0 0 2 - 2000 2017
 England 117 25 43 0 49 0.58 1932 2016
 Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 - - -
 New Zealand 57 21 10 0 26 2.10 1955 2016
 Pakistan 59 9 12 0 38 0.75 1952 2007
 South Africa 36 11 15 0 10 0.73 1992 2018
 Sri Lanka 44 20 7 0 17 2.85 1982 2017
 West Indies 94 18 30 0 46 0.60 1948 2016
 Zimbabwe 11 7 2 0 2 3.50 1992 2005
Total 522 145 160 1 216 0.90 1932 2018
Statistics are correct as of  India v  Afghanistan at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, Only Test, Jun 14-15, 2018.[100][101]

One-Day Internationals

Main article: List of India One Day International cricket records

ODI record versus other nations

Opponent Matches Won Lost Tied No Result % Won First Last
ICC Full Members
 Afghanistan 1 1 0 0 0 100.00 2014 2014
 Australia 128 45 73 0 10 38.13 1980 2017
 Bangladesh 33 27 5 0 1 84.37 1988 2017
 England 99 53 41 2 3 56.25 1974 2018
 Ireland 3 3 0 0 0 100.00 2007 2015
 New Zealand 101 51 44 1 5 53.64 1975 2017
 Pakistan 129 52 73 0 4 41.60 1978 2017
 South Africa 83 34 46 0 3 42.50 1988 2018
 Sri Lanka 158 90 56 1 11 61.56 1979 2017
 West Indies 121 56 61 1 3 47.88 1979 2017
 Zimbabwe 63 51 10 2 0 82.53 1983 2016
Others
 Bermuda 1 1 0 0 0 100.00 2007 2007
East Africa 1 1 0 0 0 100.00 1975 1975
 Hong Kong 1 1 0 0 0 100.00 2008 2008
 Kenya 13 11 2 0 0 84.61 1996 2004
 Namibia 1 1 0 0 0 100.00 2003 2003
 Netherlands 2 2 0 0 0 100.00 2003 2011
 Scotland 1 1 0 0 0 100.00 2007 2007
 United Arab Emirates 3 3 0 0 0 100.00 1994 2015
Total 942 484 411 7 40 54.04 1974 2018
Statistics are correct as of  India v  England at Leeds, 17 July 2018.[104][105]

Twenty20 Internationals

T20I record versus other nations

Opponent Matches Won Lost Tie+Win Tie+Loss No Result % Won First Last
ICC Full Members
 Afghanistan 2 2 0 0 0 0 100.00 2010 2012
 Australia 15 10 5 0 0 0 66.66 2007 2017
 Bangladesh 8 8 0 0 0 0 100.00 2009 2018
 England 14 7 7 0 0 0 50.00 2007 2018
 Ireland 3 3 0 0 0 0 100.00 2009 2018
 New Zealand 8 2 6 0 0 0 25.00 2007 2017
 Pakistan 8 6 1 1 0 0 81.25 2007 2016
 South Africa 13 8 5 0 0 0 61.53 2006 2018
 Sri Lanka 16 11 5 0 0 0 68.75 2009 2018
 West Indies 8 2 5 0 0 1 28.57 2009 2017
 Zimbabwe 7 5 2 0 0 0 71.42 2010 2016
ICC Associate members
 Scotland 1 0 0 0 0 1 – 2007 2007
 United Arab Emirates 1 1 0 0 0 0 100.00 2016 2016
Total 104 65 36 1 0 2 64.21 2006 2018
Statistics are correct as of  India v  England at Bristol, July 8, 2018.[108][109]

Players in bold text are still active with India.

Fan following

Main article: Cricket in India
Supporters of the Indian cricket team wave the Indian flag during match between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary a fan of the Indian Cricket team, travels to all Indian home games with his body painted as the Indian Flag.

Due to the massive Indian diaspora in nations like Australia, England and South Africa, a large Indian fan turnout is expected whenever India plays in each of these nations.

There have been a number of official fan groups that have been formed over the years, including the Swami Army or Bharat Army,[112] the Indian equivalent of the Barmy Army, that were very active in their support when India toured Australia in 2003/2004. They are known to attribute a number of popular Indian songs to the cricket team.[113]

Fan rivalry and cross-border tension has created a strong rivalry between the Indian and the Pakistani cricket teams. In tours between these two nations, cricket visas are often employed to accommodate for the tens of thousands of fans wishing to cross the border to watch cricket. This intense fan dedication is one of the major causes of the BCCI's financial success.[114]

However, there are downsides to having such a cricket-loving population. Many Indians hold cricket very close to their hearts and losses are not received well by the Indian population. In some cases, particularly after losses to Pakistan or after a long string of weak performances, there have been reports of player effigies being burnt in the streets and vandalism of player homes.[115] In many cases, players have come under intense attention from the media for negative reasons, this has been considered as one of the reasons for Sourav Ganguly being left out of the Indian team. At times, when a match is surrounded by controversy, it has resulted in a debacle. For example, when India slid to defeat against Australia at Brabourne Stadium in 1969, fans began throwing stones and bottles onto the field as well as setting fire to the stands, before laying siege to the Australian dressing rooms. During the same tour, a stampede occurred at Eden Gardens when tickets were oversold and India fell to another loss; the Australian team bus was later stoned with bricks.[116] A similar event occurred during the 1996 Cricket World Cup, where India were losing the semi-final to Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens. In this case, the fan behaviour was directed at the Indian team in disappointment at their lacklustre performance. An armed guard had to be placed at the home of captain Mohammad Azharuddin to ensure his safety.[116] Indian fans have also been passionate in their following of Sachin Tendulkar, who has been commonly thought of as one of the best batsmen in the world. Glorified for the bulk of his career, a riot occurred in early 1999 in a Test against Pakistan at Eden Gardens after a collision with Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar saw him run out, forcing police to eject spectators and the game to be played in an empty stadium. Although in 2006, a string of low scores resulted in Tendulkar being booed by the Mumbai crowd when he got out against England[117]

Often, fans engage in protests regarding players if they believe that regionalism has affected selection, or because of regional partisan support for local players. In 2005, when Sourav Ganguly was dropped due to lack of form, Ganguly's home state of West Bengal erupted in protests.[118] India later played a match against South Africa in Kolkata, West Bengal. The Indian team was booed by the crowd who supported South Africa instead of India in response to Ganguly's dropping.[citation needed] Similar regional divisions in India regarding selection have also caused protests against the team, with political activists from the regional Kalinga Kamgar Sena party in Odisha disrupting the arrival of the team in Cuttack for an ODI over the lack of a local player in the team, with one activist manhandling coach Greg Chappell.[119] Similar treatment was handed to Sunil Gavaskar in the 1987 World Cup Semi Finals by crowds at Wankhede Stadium when he got bowled by Philip DeFreitas.[117]

A successful string of results, victories against arch-rivals Pakistan or victory in major tournaments such as the World Cup are greeted with particular ecstasy from the Indian fans.[120]

Indian women's cricket team

Main article: India women's national cricket team
Eight female cricketers stand on a field. Two players are in red practice jerseys; three other players in red jerseys are facing toward them; a player in a blue shirt is facing away and hides another player in a blue game shirt. In the upper left corner is a fan with an Indian flag.
Members of the Indian cricket team before a Women's Cricket World Cup game in Sydney

The Indian women's cricket team has a much lower profile than the men's team. For all national women's cricket teams, the female players are paid much less their male counterparts, and the women's teams do not receive as much popular support or recognition as the men's team. The women's teams also have a less packed schedule compared to men's teams and play fewer matches. The Indian women's cricket team played its first Test match in 1976/7, when they drew with the West Indies in a six-match series.[121]

The Women's Cricket World Cup was held in India in 1978 and featured 4 teams. India lost both the matches they have played. Their next appearance in the Test and ODI circuit was against Australia in 1984, in which the Test series was tied but the ODI series was lost in a whitewash.

The Indian women's cricket team has since picked up their form, reaching the finals in the World Cup, but then losing to Australia. The Women's Asia Cup of 2005–06 was won by India, who beat Sri Lanka in the final. They also beat the West Indies in the 2004–05 season, winning the 5 ODI series 5–0. They were knocked out in the group stage of the 2013 Women's Cricket World Cup held in India. India reached the final of the 2017 World Cup but lost to England by 9 runs, following which the team was praised by many including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jhulan Goswami is the world's leading ODI wicket-taker while Mithali Raj, the captain, is the leading run-scorer in ODI cricket.

See also

References

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  2. ^ "Test matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo. 
  3. ^ "Test matches - 2018 Team records". ESPNcricinfo. 
  4. ^ "ODI matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo. 
  5. ^ "ODI matches - 2018 Team records". ESPNcricinfo. 
  6. ^ "T20I matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo. 
  7. ^ "T20I matches - 2018 Team records". ESPNcricinfo. 
  8. ^ Sheringham, Sam (2 April 2011). "India power past Sri Lanka to Cricket World Cup triumph". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 April 2011. 
  9. ^ "ICC rankings – ICC Test, ODI and Twenty20 rankings – ESPN Cricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. 
  10. ^ "Shastri, Zaheer, Dravid in India's new coaching team". ESPN cricinfo. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017. 
  11. ^ Downing, Clement (1737). William Foster, ed. A History of the Indian Wars. London. 
  12. ^ a b "Cricket and Politics in Colonial India". Ramachandra Guha. 1998. JSTOR 651075. 
  13. ^ "India in British Isles, 1911". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 21 September 2006. 
  14. ^ "History of the Imperial Cricket Conference". ICC. Archived from the original on 21 March 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2006. 
  15. ^ "India in England, 1932". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 September 2006. 
  16. ^ England tour of India, 1933/34[dead link]
  17. ^ "India in Australia, 1948". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 September 2006. 
  18. ^ "West Indies tour of India". Retrieved 8 July 2016. 
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External links

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