Indian Cricket 5.99

The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), it is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test and One Day International (ODI) status.

Although cricket was introduced to India by European merchant sailors in the 18th century, and the first cricket club in India was established in Calcutta in 1792, India's national cricket team did not play its first Test match until 25 June 1932 at Lord's. They became the sixth team to be granted Test cricket status. In its first fifty years of international cricket, India was one of the weakest teams in international cricket, winning only 35 of the 196 Test matches it played during the period. The team, however, gained strength in the 1970s with the emergence of players such as batsmen Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath, all-rounder Kapil Dev and the Indian spin quartet — Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan (both off spinners), Bhagwat Chandrasekhar (a leg spinner), and Bishen Singh Bedi (a left-arm spinner). Traditionally much stronger at home than abroad, the Indian team has improved its overseas form since the start of the 21st century, winning Test matches in Australia, England and South Africa. It won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 under Kapil Dev, was runner-up in 2003 under Sourav Ganguly, and won the World Cup a second time in 2011 under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It thus became only the third team after West Indies and Australia to have won the World Cup more than once. It is also the first cricket team to win the World Cup on home soil. India also won the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007 and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy under the captaincy of Dhoni. India has also been the runner-up in 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy and the joint champion along with Sri Lanka in 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, led by Ganguly in both the instances.

The Indian cricket team is currently ranked second as per the ICC Test rankings, second in ODIs and second in T20Is by the ICC. Currently, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain in all forms of the game while Duncan Fletcher is the coach. Under the leadership of Dhoni, the Indian team has set a national record for most back-to-back ODI wins (nine straight wins) and has emerged as one of the most formidable teams in international cricket. The Indian cricket team also 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, England and South Africa have also gained prominence.