Indian Cricket

Cricket is the most popular sport in India which is recognized as most popular sport in India. The development of this game has been closely tied up with the history of the country. With the expansion of British rule throughout the subcontinent, the British took the game with them wherever they went. The British first introduced cricket to India in 18th century. The early history of cricket was focused largely on the large cities. By 1900s the metros like Bombay (now Mumbai), Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Madras (now Chennai) were exposed to the game. Presidency matches started in 1892-93 between the Parsis and Europeans. With the Hindus too joining in, the tournament became the Bombay Triangular in 1907-08. Almost half a decade later in 1912-13, the entry of the Muslims made it a quadrangular.

In the recent era, Indian Cricket has also been considered as one of the powerhouses of Cricket in the entire world and one of the premier contributors to the development of Cricket. Apart from the Indian men, the Indian women also play Cricket for quite some time now. The Women`s Cricket in India has flourished in a great way, in the recent years.

The history of Indian Cricket is quite an old one, as the game first came to India during the middle half of the nineteenth century. The Indian people started playing the game in an organized for the first time in the year 1848 and a place named Sylhet (presently situated in Bangladesh) is considered to be the birthplace Indian Cricket. During that period, Cricket in India was mainly played between several Cricket clubs that came into existence to promote the game in the country. The first one of the Indian Cricket clubs was the Parsee Oriental Cricket Club. After that numerous Cricket clubs have been established in India and they are still operating with the same view of promoting the game in the country.

The Indian Cricket has so far seen numerous events that have brought both glory and condemnation for the Indian Cricket enthusiasts. The events in Indian Cricket actually depict the entire journey of Cricket in India so far.

As the Indian people have been playing the game of Cricket for several decades now, India has so far produced innumerable talented and legendary cricketers. The Indian Cricket players have shown numerous memorable performances in various occasions both on home soil and overseas, latest being the World Cup 2011 win at home. Apart from the internationally acclaimed and appreciated Indian Cricket players, there are also a large number of cricketers in India, who play at the district, state or national levels. Almost all the Indian state level cricketers have the potentiality of becoming the stars of tomorrow and in fact, they are main source for getting talented cricketers in the Indian national Cricket team. The excellence of the Indian cricketers has earned them several prestigious awards and almost all the great cricketers went on to become Arjuna Awardees in Cricket, later in their career.

The BCCI, which runs and manages cricket in India, was established in the year 1928 and most of the other Indian Cricket associations were formed within the next two to three decades. All the associations are working with the same objective of promoting the game in India and improving the status of Indian Cricket. They are taking a lot of initiatives for achieving their goals and organising different tournaments at various levels, is one of their most important activities. The Cricket tournaments in India are mainly organised with a view to bring up new talents from the grass route level and keep the supply line for the national team, intact. Some of the major Cricket tournaments in India that have earned international recognition include the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, etc. The latest sensation in the cricket tournaments in India has been the Indian Premier League (IPL) that has brought a sea change in Indian Cricket.

India is quite famous for having some of the greatest Cricket stadiums all over the world that have all the necessary modern facilities to organize an international match successfully. The oldest Cricket stadium in India is the Eden Gardens at Kolkata. Some of the other prominent Indian Cricket stadiums include the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Brabourne Stadium, Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Wankhede Stadium, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Punjab C.A. Stadium, Sardar Patel Stadium, Vidarbha C.A. Ground, etc. The Indian Cricket stadiums host different kinds of matches both domestic and international, from time to time. All the ODI matches in India and Test matches in India have been organized in the premier Cricket stadiums. Apart from the Indian Cricket associations, there are also numerous Cricket academies in India. The Indian Cricket Academies are playing an important role in nurturing the young talent and presenting talented cricketers to the country.