India national cricket team

The India men’s national cricket team plays for the country in international matches. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) runs the side, which holds full membership in the International Cricket Council and competes in Tests, One Day Internationals (ODIs), and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). Right now, India are the reigning champions of the T20 World Cup, the ICC Champions Trophy, and the Asia Cup. Across 601 Test matches, India have won 187, lost 188, drawn 225, and tied 1. They have reached the World Test Championship final twice, finishing as runners-up in both 2021 and 2023. In ODIs, the team has played 1,081 games, winning 575, losing 452, tying 10, and seeing 44 end with no result. India have appeared in four World Cup finals and lifted the trophy twice, in 1983 and 2011. They also hold a record three Champions Trophy titles, winning in 2002, 2013, and 2025, and have taken the ODI Asia Cup a record seven times. In T20Is, India have played 287 matches, winning 190, losing 81, tying 7, and recording 9 no-results. They have reached the T20 World Cup final four times and won it a record three times, in 2007, 2024, and 2026. The team has also claimed the T20I Asia Cup a record two times. **History**

**Early history (1700s–1918)** Cricket arrived in India with the British in the early 1700s; the first recorded match took place in 1721. The game was taken up by the Kolis of Gujarat, a group of sea pirates and outlaws who often raided British ships. The East India Company managed to control the Kolis through cricket, with some success. In 1848, the Parsi community in Mumbai founded the Oriental Cricket Club, the first Indian-run cricket club. Progress was slow, but Europeans eventually invited the Parsis to a match in 1877. By 1912, a quadrangular tournament was held each year in Bombay, featuring teams of Parsis, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and Europeans. In the early 1900s, a few Indians played for England. Among them, Ranjitsinhji and Duleepsinhji earned great respect from the British, and their names were later used for the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy, two major first-class tournaments in India. In 1911, an Indian team captained by Bhupinder Singh of Patiala made its first official tour of the British Isles, but only faced English county sides, not the England national team. **Test match status (1918–1970)** India was invited to join the International Cricket Council in 1926 and debuted as a Test-playing nation in England in 1932, led by C. K. Nayudu, then considered the country’s best batsman. The single Test, played at Lord’s in London, ended in a 158-run loss for India, whose batting was weak at the time. India hosted its first Test series in 1933, when England toured; the visitors won the three-match series 2–0, with games in Bombay (now Mumbai), Calcutta (now Kolkata), and Madras (now Chennai). The team improved through the 1930s and 1940s but did not win any international matches. World War II halted Test cricket for India in the early 1940s. After independence, India’s first series came in late 1947 against Don Bradman’s Australia, their first Tests not against England. Australia won 4–0, with Bradman dominating India’s bowling in his final Australian summer. India then played their first home series against a non-English side, hosting the West Indies in 1948, and lost 1–0. India’s first Test victory came in their 24th match, against England at Madras in 1952. Later that year, they won their first Test series, against Pakistan. The team continued to improve in the early 1950s, beating New Zealand in a series in 1956, but won no more series for the rest of the decade, suffering heavy losses to strong Australian and English sides. On 24 August 1959, England completed the only 5–0 whitewash ever inflicted on India, winning by an innings. The 1960s saw India build a reputation for strong home performances. They won their first home Test series against England in 1961–62 and also beat New Zealand at home. They drew home series with Pakistan, Australia, and another with England. During this period, India also secured their first series win outside the subcontinent, against New Zealand in 1967–68. India’s bowling in the 1970s was anchored by the spin quartet: Bishan Singh Bedi, E. A. S. Prasanna, B. S. Chandrasekhar, and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan. This era also produced two of India’s finest batsmen, Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath. Indian pitches tended to favour spin, and the quartet exploited this to cause collapses in opposing line-ups. Under captain Ajit Wadekar, these players led India to back-to-back series wins in 1971, first in the West Indies and then in England. Gavaskar scored 774 runs in the West Indies series, while Dilip Sardesai’s 112 was crucial to India’s lone Test victory. **One-day cricket and ICC Cricket World Cup success (1970–1985)** The introduction of men’s One Day Internationals in 1971 added a new dimension to the sport. India, however, were not considered strong in ODIs at the time, with batsmen like captain Gavaskar known for a defensive approach. The team started as a weak ODI side and failed to reach the knockout stage in the first two World Cups. In the inaugural 1975 World Cup, Gavaskar blocked his way to 36 not out off 174 balls against England; India managed only 132 for 3 and lost by 202 runs.