India national cricket team

This article is about the men's team. For The women's team, see India women's national cricket team.

India

Nickname(s)	Men in Blue, Team India, Blue Army
Association	Board of Control for Cricket in India
Personnel
Captain	Rohit Sharma
Coach	Rahul Dravid
History
Test status acquired	1931
International Cricket Council
ICC status	Full Member (1926)
ICC region	Asia
ICC Rankings Current Best-ever Test 1st 1st (1 April 1973) ODI 3rd 1st (January 2013) T20I 1st 1st (28 March 2014)
Tests
First Test	v England at Lord's, London; 25–28 June 1932
Last Test	v West Indies at Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain; 20–24 July 2023
Tests Played Won/Lost Total 572 173/176 (222 draws, 1 tie) This year 7 3/2 (2 draws)
World Test Championship appearances	2 (first in 2019–2021)
Best result	Runners-up (2019–21, 2021–23)
One Day Internationals
First ODI	v England at Headingley, Leeds; 13 July 1974
Last ODI	v West Indies at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, San Fernando; 1 August 2023
ODIs Played Won/Lost Total 1,032 541/439 (9 ties, 43 no results) This year 12 9/3 (0 ties, 0 no results)
World Cup appearances	12 (first in 1975)
Best result	Champions (1983, 2011)
Twenty20 Internationals
First T20I	v South Africa at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg; 1 December 2006
Last T20I	v West Indies at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, San Fernando; 3 August 2023
T20Is Played Won/Lost Total 200 127/64 (4 ties, 5 no results) This year 7 4/3 (0 ties, 0 no results)
T20 World Cup appearances	8 (first in 2007)
Best result	Champions (2007)
Test kit ODI kit T20I kit
As of 3 August 2023

The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It 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.

Cricket was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by British sailors in the 18th century, and the first cricket club was established in 1792. India's men's national cricket team played its first international match on 25 June 1932 in a Lord's Test against England becoming the sixth team to be granted Test cricket status. India had to wait until 1952, almost twenty years, for its first Test victory. In its first fifty years of international cricket, success was limited, with only 35 wins in 196 Tests. The team, however, gained strength in the 1970s with the emergence of players like Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath, Kapil Dev, and the Indian spin quartet.

In men's limited-overs cricket, India made its ODI and T20I debuts in 1974 and 2006, respectively. The team has won five major ICC tournaments, winning the Cricket World Cup twice (1983 and 2011), the ICC T20 World Cup once (2007) and the ICC Champions Trophy twice (2002 and 2013) and have also finished as runners-up in the World Cup once (2003), the T20 World Cup once (2014), and the Champions Trophy twice (2000 and 2017). The team were also part of ICC World Test Championship finals in the first two editions (2019–21, 2021–23). It was the second team after the West Indies to win the World Cup and the first team to win the World Cup on home soil after winning the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

They have also won the Asia Cup seven times, in 1984, 1988, 1990–91, 1995, 2010, 2016 and 2018, whilst finishing runners-up thrice (1997, 2004, 2008). The team also won the 1985 World Championship of Cricket, defeating Pakistan in the final. Other achievements include winning the ICC Test Championship Mace five times and the ICC ODI Championship Shield once.

As of June 2023, the team is ranked first in Tests, third in ODIs and first in T20Is in the ICC rankings.

History

See also: Cricket in India § History

Early history (1700s–1918)

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. In 1848, the Parsi community in Mumbai 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. By 1912, the Parsis, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims of Bombay played a quadrangular tournament with the Europeans every year. In the early 1900s, some Indians went on to play for the England cricket team. Some of these, such as Ranjitsinhji and 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 men's cricket team, captained by Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, went on their first official tour of the British Isles, but only played English county teams and not the England cricket team.

Test match status (1918–1970)

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

Lala Amarnath batting during a match against Middlesex at Lord's, c. 1936

C. K. Nayudu, India's first captain in Test cricket

India was invited to the International Cricket Council in 1926, and made their debut as a Test playing nation in England in 1932, led by CK Nayudu, who was considered the best Indian batsman at the time. 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. India hosted its first men's Test series in the year 1933. England was the visiting team that played two Tests in Bombay (now Mumbai) and Calcutta (now Kolkata). The visitors won the series 2–0. 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 men's Test cricket due to the World War II. The team's first series as an independent country was in late 1947 against Don Bradman's Australian cricket team in England in 1948 (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 men's cricket team won the five-match series 4–0, with Bradman tormenting the Indian bowling in his final Australian summer. India subsequently played their first Test series at home not against England, but against the West Indies in 1948. West Indies won the five Test series 1–0.

Elizabeth II with members of the Indian team during the Indian tour of England in 1952

India recorded their first Test victory, in their 24th match, against England at Madras in 1952. Later in the same year, they won their first Test series, which was against Pakistan. 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.

The key to India's bowling in the 1970s were the Indian spin quartet – Bishan Singh Bedi, E. A. S. Prasanna, B. S. Chandrasekhar and Srinivasaraghavan 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 ICC Cricket World Cup success (1970–1985)

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 men's 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. 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 Mohammad 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 Lord's, 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 (1985–2000)

See also: History of cricket in India from 1985–86 to 2000

With 619 wickets, Anil Kumble is the world's fourth highest wicket-taker in Tests and India's highest Test and ODI wicket-taker.

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.

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. The first three put aside personal ambitions to let Ganguly lead them into a new era.

21st century

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

Indian cricket team in action at Wankhede Stadium

The Indian team underwent major improvements under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly and guidance of John Wright, India's first foreign coach. In the Kolkata Test match, 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" because of his side's inability to win a Test series in India. In the year 2002, 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. 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.

Indian players celebrating after taking a wicket against New Zealand in 2010

In September 2007, India won the first-ever ICC Men's T20 World Cup held in South Africa, beating Pakistan by 5 runs in the final. 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. India also became the first team to win the World Cup on home soil. India defeated England in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy Final and Dhoni became the first men's cricket team captain in history to win the three major ICC trophies, namely the Cricket World Cup, ICC Men's T20 World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy.

In the 2014 ICC Men's World Twenty20 hosted in Bangladesh, India narrowly missed out on another ICC trophy by losing to Sri Lanka in the final. India was knocked out of the 2015 Cricket World Cup in the semi-final to eventual winners Australia. India then began 2016 by winning the 2016 Asia Cup, remaining unbeaten throughout the tournament. The team were favourites to win the 2016 ICC World Twenty20, which was being held at home, but lost in the semi-final to eventual champions West Indies. India defeated Pakistan in their first game of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy but lost to the same opponents in the final, the first time they had met at this stage of a tournament since 2007.

The Indian team's next major global tournament was the 2019 Cricket World Cup where the team finished first in the group stage with 7 wins and only 1 loss which came against host nation England. They made the semis but lost to New Zealand by 18 runs. Rohit Sharma was the highest run-scorer for the team with 648 runs. India played the 2021 ICC World Test Championship Final against New Zealand in Southampton in which they lost by 8 wickets. India qualified for the semi-finals in the 2022 T20 World Cup, but lost to England by 10 wickets.

2023, As per Aakash Chopra, in the last three years’ test, the current captain of team India had taken part in 18 matches and scored with a 42+ average, which is the highest average in test matches by an Indian batsman apart from Rishabh Pant. Additionally, Indian young player Shubhman Gill played 16 matches and scored a 32 average; KL Rahul participated in 11 test matches and scored a 30 average; India’s test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara played 28 matches and scored a 29 average; and similarly, the backbone of the Indian batting department, Virat Kohli, has a 29 average after playing 25 matches. However, Ajinkya Rahne, who had been recalled for the World Test Championship final on the basis of his IPL performance, has managed a 26 average after 20 matches in the last three years of tests.

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 (ICC). Its headquarter is situated in the 'Cricket centre' at Churchgate, Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is amongst the richest sporting organisations in the world. It sold media rights for India's matches from 2006 to 2010 for $612,000,000. Roger Binny is present BCCI president and Jay Shah is secretary.

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. In the past, the BCCI has also come into conflict with the ICC regarding sponsorships.

Selection committee

Main article: India national cricket team 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.

Until 18 November 2022, Chetan Sharma was the chief selector and Debashish Mohanty, Harvinder Singh and Sunil Joshi were members. The entire panel was sacked after the unsuccessful performance of the team in 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

On 7 January 2023, Chetan Sharma was again appointed as the chief selector along with Shiv Sunder Das, Subroto Banerjee, Salil Ankola, and Sridharan Sharath.

On 17 February 2023, Chetan Sharma resigned from his post after a sting operation by a private news channel saw him make several loose comments on the Indian team and Shiv Sunder Das replaced him and acted as an interim chief selctor.

On 4 July 2023, Ajit Agarkar was appointed as the new chief selector and replaced Chetan Sharma. He joined Shiv Sunder Das, Subroto Banerjee, Salil Ankola, and Sridharan Sharath on the selection committee.

Team colours

India plays its test cricket matches with the traditional cricket whites with the caps and helmets being navy blue, while the uniforms worn in limited-overs matches have different shades of blue for ODIs and T20s, which sometimes has a splash of the colours which are present in Indian flag.

During the 1992 and 1999 Cricket World Cups, the Indian team's kit was sponsored by ISC and ASICS respectively, but had been without an official kit sponsor till 2001. With no official kit sponsor for the Indian team, Omtex manufactured the shirts and pants for the team, while some players chose to wear pants provided to them by their individual sponsors like Adidas and Reebok till December 2005.

In December 2005, Nike outbid its competitors Adidas and Reebok, and acquired the contract for 5 years which started in January 2006 ahead of Indian team's tour to Pakistan. Nike was a long time kit supplier to team India with two extensions for a period of five years each time; in 2011 and 2016 respectively.

After, Nike ended its contract in September 2020, MPL Sports Apparel & Accessories, a subsidiary of online gaming platform Mobile Premier League replaced Nike as the kit manufacturer in November 2020 ahead of Indian team's tour to Australia, which was supposed to run until December 2023.

In November 2022, MPL Sports decided to exit the deal before the end of their contract and hand over their rights to Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (KKCL).

In January 2023, MPL appointed Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (KKCL) and Killer Jeans (a brand owned by KKCL) as interim sponsors till May 2023.

In February 2023, it was announced that Adidas will begin a five year sponsorship deal in June 2023 ahead of ICC World Test Championship final, replacing KKCL.

In May 2023, BCCI officially announced Adidas as their kit sponsor for next five years running until March 2028.

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
1992	ISC
1999	ASICS	ITC Limited (Wills & ITC Hotels)
1993 - 2001
2001 - 2005	Omtex	Sahara
2006 - 2013	Nike
2014 - 2017		STAR India
2017 - 2019		OPPO
2019 - 2020		BYJU's
2020 - 2022	MPL Sports
2023	Killer Jeans
2023 - Present	Adidas	Dream11

Sponsorship for ICC Tournaments

Tournament	Kit Manufacturer	Sleeve Sponsor
1975 Cricket World Cup
1979 Cricket World Cup
1983 Cricket World Cup
1987 Cricket World Cup
1992 Cricket World Cup	ISC
1996 Cricket World Cup		Wills
1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy
1999 Cricket World Cup	ASICS
2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy
2002 ICC Champions Trophy	Omtex
2003 Cricket World Cup		Aamby Valley
2004 ICC Champions Trophy		Sahara
2006 ICC Champions Trophy	Nike
2007 Cricket World Cup
2007 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
2009 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
2009 ICC Champions Trophy
2010 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
2011 Cricket World Cup
2012 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
2013 ICC Champions Trophy
2014 ICC Men's T20 World Cup		STAR India
2015 Cricket World Cup
2016 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
2017 ICC Champions Trophy		OPPO
2019 Cricket World Cup
2021 ICC World Test Championship	MPL Sports	BYJU's
2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup
2023 ICC World Test Championship	Adidas
2023 Cricket World Cup		Dream11

Sponsorship

Current Sponsors & Partners

Team sponsor	Dream11
Kit sponsor	Adidas
Title sponsor	Mastercard
Official partners	Hyundai
	LafargeHolcim (Ambuja Cements & ACC)
Official broadcaster	TBA

Team sponsorship

Dream11 (Sporta Technologies Pvt. Ltd.) was announced as the sponsor for the team on 1 July 2023. Their sponsorship is supposed to run until 31 March 2026 for a period of three years.

Previously, BYJU's was the sponsor for Indian team from 5 September 2019 till 31 March 2023, after OPPO handed over the rights to them.

OPPO's sponsorship was supposed to run from 2017 until 2022, but they handed over to BYJU's. On 7 March 2022, BYJU's extended its sponsorship for one year.

Previously, the Indian team has been sponsored by BYJU's from September 2019 till March 2023, OPPO from May 2017 till August 2019, Star India from January 2014 till March 2017, Sahara India Pariwar from June 2001 till December 2013 and ITC Limited (with Wills and ITC Hotels brands) from June 1993 till May 2001.

Official partners

On 30 August 2019, following the conclusion of the expression of interest process for official partners' rights, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Sporta Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Dream11), LafargeHolcim (ACC Cement, and Ambuja Cements) and Hyundai Motors India Ltd. have acquired the official partners' rights for the BCCI International and Domestic matches during 2019–2023.

Disney Star and Airtel have been title sponsors previously.

The title sponsors of all international and domestic matches played in India is Mastercard for the 2022–23 season. The title sponsorship was initially given to Paytm for all matches played between 2015 and 2023 but was handed over to Mastercard in 2022.

Official broadcasters

Star Sports Network was the official broadcaster until March 2023 for all matches the team played in India.

International grounds

Main article: List of international cricket grounds in India

Narendra Modi

Sawai Mansingh

Barabati

Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy

Wankhede

Brabourne

MCA

SVN, Raipur

Eden Gardens

ACA

Arun Jaitley

Green Park

Trivandrum

HPCA

Rajiv Gandhi, Hyderabad

Chinnaswamy

Chidambaram

I S Bindra

Holkar

Rajiv Gandhi, Dehradun

VCA

JSCA

SCA

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

V S Pathik

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Locations of active international stadiums in 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 Ground 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.

India currently has the world's largest cricket stadium. The Narendra Modi Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Eden Gardens in Kolkata has hosted the most Tests, and also has the third-largest seating capacity of any cricket stadium in the world. Founded in 1864, it is one of the most historical stadiums in India, having hosted numerous historical and controversial matches. Other major stadiums in India include the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium, which was established in 1883 and hosted memorable matches including Anil Kumble's ten wickets in an innings haul against Pakistan.

The Bombay Gymkhana hosted the first 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. The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk is also considered to be an important historical Indian cricket ground, established in the early 1900s, and it was the site of India's first Test victory.

Captains

Main article: List of India national cricket captains

A total of 35 men have captained the Indian men's 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 men's ODIs but not Tests. India's first captain of men's cricket team was C. K. 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 of men's cricket team and the first Indian to score a century in test cricket while playing for India, 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 men's cricket team had a number of captains such as Vijay Hazare, Polly Umrigar and Nari Contractor.

The Nawab of Pataudi, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was the men's 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 men's cricket team 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 men's ODI in 1974, also under his captaincy. India won its first men's ODI under the captaincy of Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan in the 1975 Cricket World Cup, against East Africa cricket team. Between 1975–76 and 1978–79, Bishan Singh Bedi captained the team in 22 men's Tests and 4 ODIs, winning 6 Tests and one ODI.

Sunil Gavaskar took over as men's 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 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 of men's cricket team 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 men's cricket team in 25 Test matches and 73 ODIs in the late 1990s; Tendulkar was relatively unsuccessful as a captain, winning only 4 Test matches and 23 ODIs.

Sourav Ganguly became the regular captain of the men's 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 men's 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, MS Dhoni was named as the new captain of the men's ODI and Twenty20 International teams, after Dravid stepped down from the post. Soon after taking up the captaincy, Dhoni led the team to the inaugural World men's 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 men's Test captain, making him the captain in all formats. Under the captaincy of Dhoni, the Indian men's cricket team held the number one position in the ICC Men's Test Team 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). 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 Men's T20 World Cup in 2007 and ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. 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 T20I 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 also had an unbeaten streak of winning 9 consecutive Test series, starting with a 3–0 series win over Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and ending with a 1–0 series win over Sri Lanka at home. 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 was India's second most successful Test captain, behind Ajinkya Rahane, having won more than 58% of Test matches (at least 2 games).

In November 2021, Rohit Sharma was appointed as the new T20I captain of the Indian men's cricket team after Kohli resigned from the role. Kohli led India one last time in T20Is at the T20 World Cup 2021. Under Rohit's first series as permanent captaincy, India whitewashed New Zealand at home in the T20I series 3–0. In December 2021, Sharma was also appointed as the new ODI captain of the Indian men's cricket team, replacing Kohli ahead of their away series against South Africa. Kohli later quit as Test captain as well, after their Test series loss to South Africa. Sharma replaced Kohli as Test captain before the Test series against Sri Lanka and is now the Full-Time Captain of the Indian men's cricket team.

Current squad

Rohit Sharma, present India cricket team skipper

This lists all the players who have played for India in the past 12 months or was named in the most recent Test, ODI or T20I squad. In March 2023, BCCI published a new contract list which will be valid from October 2022 to September 2023 for the 2022–2023 season.

Key

Symbol	Meaning
CG	Contract grade with BCCI
No.	Shirt number of the player in all formats
Format	Denotes the player recently played in which particular format, not his entire career

Name	Age	Batting style	Bowling style	Domestic team	IPL Team	CG	Forms	No.	Last Test	Last ODI	Last T20I
Test, ODI & T20I Captain; Batter
Rohit Sharma	37	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	Mumbai	Mumbai Indians	A+	Test, ODI, T20I	45	2023	2023	2022
Test vice-captain; Batter
Ajinkya Rahane	36	Right-handed	—	Mumbai	Chennai Super Kings	—	Test	27	2023	2018	2016
T20I & ODI vice-captain; All-rounder
Hardik Pandya	31	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast	Baroda	Gujarat Titans	A	ODI, T20I	33	2018	2023	2023
Batters
Shikhar Dhawan	39	Left-handed	Right-arm off spin	Delhi	Punjab Kings	C	ODI	42	2018	2022	2021
Ruturaj Gaikwad	27	Right-handed	—	Maharashtra	Chennai Super Kings	—	ODI	31	—	2023	2022
Shubman Gill	25	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	Punjab	Gujarat Titans	B	Test, ODI, T20I	77	2023	2023	2023
Shreyas Iyer	30	Right-handed	Right-arm leg spin	Mumbai	Kolkata Knight Riders	B	Test, ODI, T20I	41	2023	2023	2022
Yashasvi Jaiswal	22	Left-handed	—	Mumbai	Rajasthan Royals	—	Test	64	2023	—	—
Virat Kohli	36	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Delhi	Royal Challengers Bangalore	A+	Test, ODI, T20I	18	2023	2023	2022
Cheteshwar Pujara	36	Right-handed	Right-arm leg spin	Saurashtra	—	B	Test	25	2023	2014	—
Rahul Tripathi	33	Right-handed	—	Maharashtra	Sunrisers Hyderabad	—	T20I	52	—	—	2023
Tilak Varma	22	Left-handed	Right arm off break	Hyderabad	Mumbai Indians	—	T20I	72	—	—	2023
Suryakumar Yadav	34	Right-handed	—	Mumbai	Mumbai Indians	B	Test, ODI, T20I	63	2023	2023	2023
All-rounders
Ravichandran Ashwin	38	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	Tamil Nadu	Rajasthan Royals	A	Test, T20I	99	2023	2022	2022
Deepak Hooda	29	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	Rajasthan	Lucknow Super Giants	C	ODI, T20I	57	—	2022	2023
Ravindra Jadeja	36	Left-handed	Left-arm orthodox spin	Saurashtra	Chennai Super Kings	A+	Test, ODI, T20I	8	2023	2023	2022
Axar Patel	30	Left-handed	Left-arm orthodox spin	Gujarat	Delhi Capitals	A	Test, ODI, T20I	20	2023	2023	2023
Washington Sundar	25	Left-handed	Right-arm off spin	Tamil Nadu	Sunrisers Hyderabad	C	ODI, T20I	5	2021	2023	2023
Wicket-keepers
K. S. Bharat	31	Right-handed	—	Andhra	Gujarat Titans	C	Test	14	2023	—	—
Ishan Kishan	26	Left-handed	—	Jharkhand	Mumbai Indians	C	Test, ODI, T20I	32	2023	2023	2023
Rishabh Pant	27	Left-handed	—	Delhi	Delhi Capitals	A	Test, ODI, T20I	17	2022	2022	2022
K. L. Rahul	32	Right-handed	—	Karnataka	Lucknow Super Giants	B	Test, ODI, T20I	1	2023	2023	2022
Sanju Samson	30	Right-handed	—	Kerala	Rajasthan Royals	C	ODI, T20I	9	—	2023	2023
Pace bowlers
Jasprit Bumrah	31	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	Gujarat	Mumbai Indians	A+	T20I	93	2022	2022	2022
Deepak Chahar	32	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Rajasthan	Chennai Super Kings	—	ODI, T20I	90	—	2022	2022
Avesh Khan	27	Right–handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Madhya Pradesh	Lucknow Super Giants	—	ODI, T20I	65	—	2022	2022
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	34	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Uttar Pradesh	Sunrisers Hyderabad	—	T20I	15	2018	2022	2022
Mukesh Kumar	31	Right-handed	Right arm medium	Bengal	Delhi Capitals	—	Test, ODI, T20I	49	2023	2023	2023
Umran Malik	25	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	Jammu and Kashmir	Sunrisers Hyderabad	—	ODI, T20I	21	—	2023	2023
Shivam Mavi	26	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	Uttar Pradesh	Gujarat Titans	—	T20I	26	—	—	2023
Harshal Patel	34	Right-handed	Right arm medium	Haryana	Royal Challengers Bangalore	—	T20I	36	—	—	2023
Mohammed Shami	34	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	Bengal	Gujarat Titans	A	Test, ODI, T20I	11	2023	2023	2022
Arshdeep Singh	25	Left-handed	Left-arm medium-fast	Punjab	Punjab Kings	C	ODI, T20I	2	—	2022	2023
Mohammed Siraj	30	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	Hyderabad	Royal Challengers Bangalore	B	Test, ODI, T20I	73	2023	2023	2022
Shardul Thakur	33	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Mumbai	Kolkata Knight Riders	C	Test, ODI	54	2023	2023	2022
Jaydev Unadkat	33	Right-handed	Left-arm medium	Saurashtra	Lucknow Super Giants	—	Test, ODI	91	2023	2023	2018
Umesh Yadav	37	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	Vidarbha	Kolkata Knight Riders	C	Test, T20I	19	2023	2018	2022
Spin bowlers
Ravi Bishnoi	24	Right-handed	Right-arm leg spin	Gujarat	Lucknow Super Giants	—	ODI, T20I	56	—	2022	2022
Yuzvendra Chahal	34	Right-handed	Right-arm leg spin	Haryana	Rajasthan Royals	C	ODI, T20I	3	—	2023	2023
Kuldeep Yadav	29	Left-handed	Left-arm unorthodox spin	Uttar Pradesh	Delhi Capitals	C	Test, ODI, T20I	23	2022	2023	2023

Pay grade

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$839,000)
• Grade A – ₹5 crore (US$599,000)
• Grade B – ₹3 crore (US$359,000)
• Grade C – ₹1 crore (US$120,000)

Match fees

Players also receive a match fee of ₹15 lakh (US$18,000) per Test match, ₹6 lakh (US$7,200) per ODI, and ₹3 lakh (US$3,600) per T20I.

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Team manager	Girish Dongre
Head coach	Rahul Dravid
Batting coach	Vikram Rathour
Bowling coach	Paras Mhambrey
Fielding coach	T Dilip

Rahul Dravid was appointed as the head coach of India from November 2021 replacing Ravi Shastri, under whom India won several historic matches. Rahul Dravid was also the coach of India national under-19 cricket team and India A cricket team before becoming the head coach

Tournament history

World Test Championship

ICC World Test Championship record
Year	League stage										Final Host	Final	Final Position
	Pos	Matches					Ded	PC	Pts	PCT
		P	W	L	D	T
2019–2021	1/9	17	12	4	1	0	0	720	520	72.2	Rose Bowl, England	Lost to New Zealand by 8 wickets	2/9
2021–2023	2/9	18	10	5	3	0	5	216	127	58.80	The Oval, England	Lost to Australia by 209 runs	2/9

Cricket World Cup

Main article: India at the Cricket World Cup

World Cup record
Host and Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR	Squad
1975	Round 1	6/8	3	1	2	0	0	Squad
1979	Round 1	7/8	3	0	3	0	0	Squad
1983	Champions	1/8	8	6	2	0	0	Squad
1987	Semi-finals	3/8	7	5	2	0	0	Squad
1992	Round 1	7/9	8	2	5	0	1	Squad
1996	Semi-finals	3/12	7	4	3	0	0	Squad
1999	R2 (Super 6s)	6/12	8	4	4	0	0	Squad
2003	Runners-up	2/14	11	9	2	0	0	Squad
2007	Group Stage	9/16	3	1	2	0	0	Squad
2011	Champions	1/14	9	7	1	1	0	Squad
2015	Semi-finals	3/14	8	7	1	0	0	Squad
2019	Semi-finals	3/10	10	7	2	0	1	Squad
2023	Qualified
2027	TBA
2031	Qualified
Total	2 Titles	12/12	85	53	29	1	2

T20 World Cup

T20 World Cup record
Host and Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR	Squad
2007	Champions	1/12	7	5	1	1	1	Squad
2009	Super 8s	7/12	5	2	3	0	0	Squad
2010	Super 8s	8/12	5	2	3	0	0	Squad
2012	Super 8s	5/12	5	4	1	0	0	Squad
2014	Runners-up	2/16	6	5	1	0	0	Squad
2016	Semi-finals	4/16	5	3	2	0	0	Squad
2021	Super 12s	6/16	5	3	2	0	0	Squad
2022	Semi-finals	3/16	6	4	2	0	0	Squad
2024	Qualified
2026	Qualified
2028	TBA
2030	TBA
Total	1 Title	8/8	45	28	15	1	1

Champions Trophy

Champions Trophy record
Host and Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR	Squad
1998	Semi-finals	3/9	2	1	1	0	0	Squad
2000	Runners-up	2/11	4	3	1	0	0	Squad
2002	Champions	1/12	4	3	0	0	1	Squad
2004	Group stage	7/12	2	1	1	0	0	Squad
2006	Group stage	5/10	3	1	2	0	0	Squad
2009	Group stage	5/8	3	1	1	0	1	Squad
2013	Champions	1/8	5	5	0	0	0	Squad
2017	Runners-up	2/8	5	3	2	0	0	Squad
2025	Qualified
2029	Qualified
Total	2 Titles	8/8	28	18	8	0	2

Asia Cup

Asia Cup record
Host and Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
1984	Champions	1/3	2	2	0	0	0
1986	Boycotted the tournament
1988	Champions	1/4	4	3	1	0	0
1990–91	Champions	1/3	3	2	1	0	0
1995	Champions	1/4	4	3	1	0	0
1997	Runners-up	2/4	4	1	2	0	1
2000	First round	3/4	3	1	2	0	0
2004	Runners-up	2/6	6	3	3	0	0
2008	Runners-up	2/6	6	4	2	0	0
2010	Champions	1/4	4	3	1	0	0
2012	First round	3/4	3	2	1	0	0
2014	First round	3/5	4	2	2	0	0
2016	Champions	1/5	5	5	0	0	0
2018	Champions	1/6	6	5	0	1	0
2022	Super Four	3/6	5	3	2	0	0
2023
Total	7 Titles	14/15	59	39	18	1	1

Other tournaments

Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
1998	Group stage	9/16	3	1	1	0	1
Total	0 Title	1/1	3	1	1	0	1

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
2022	Qualified
Total	TBD

World Championship of Cricket

World Championship of Cricket record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	N/R
1985	Champions	1/7	5	5	0	0	0
Total	1 Title	1/1	5	0	0	0	0

Austral-Asia Cup

Austral-Asia Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	N/R
1986	Runners-up	2/5	3	2	1	0	0
1990	Group Stage	5/6	2	0	2	0	0
1994	Runners-up	2/6	4	2	2	0	0
Total	0 Title	3/3	9	4	5	0	0

Honours

ICC

• World Test Championship:
  • Runners-up (2): 2019–2021, 2021–2023
• World Cup:
  • Champions (2): 1983, 2011
  • Runners-up (1): 2003
• T20 World Cup:
  • Champions (1): 2007
  • Runners-up (1): 2014
• Champions Trophy:
  • Champions (2): 2002, 2013
  • Runners-up (2): 2000, 2017

ACC

• Asia Cup:
  • Champions (7): 1984, 1988, 1990–91, 1995, 2010, 2016, 2018
  • Runners-up (3): 1997, 2004, 2008

Others

• World Championship of Cricket:
  • Winners: 1985

Statistics

Main article: India national cricket team record by opponent

Tests

Main article: List of India Test cricket records

Head-to-Head record

Opponent	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	% Won	% Lost	% Drew	First	Last
Afghanistan	1	1	0	0	0	100.00	0.00	0.00	2018	2018
Australia	108	33	45	1	29	30.17	41.86	27.01	1947	2024
Bangladesh	15	13	0	0	2	86.66	0.00	13.33	2000	2024
England	136	35	51	0	50	25.73	37.50	36.76	1932	2024
New Zealand	65	22	16	0	27	33.84	24.61	41.53	1955	2024
Pakistan	59	9	12	0	38	15.25	20.33	64.40	1952	2007
South Africa	44	16	18	0	10	36.36	40.90	22.72	1992	2023
Sri Lanka	46	22	7	0	17	47.82	15.21	36.95	1982	2022
West Indies	100	23	30	0	47	23.00	30.00	47.00	1948	2023
Zimbabwe	11	7	2	0	2	63.63	18.18	18.18	1992	2005
Total	584	180	181	1	222	30.82	30.99	38.01	1932	2024
Statistics are correct as of India v New Zealand, 3rd Test, 1-3 November 2024.

Most test runs for India

Player	Runs	Average
Sachin Tendulkar	15,921	53.78
Rahul Dravid	13,288	52.63
Sunil Gavaskar	10,122	51.12
VVS Laxman	8,781	45.97
Virat Kohli	8,676	48.89
Virender Sehwag	8,503	49.43
Sourav Ganguly	7,212	42.17
Cheteshwar Pujara	7,195	43.60
Dilip Vengsarkar	6,868	42.13
Mohammad Azharuddin	6,215	45.03

Most Test wickets for India

Player	Wickets	Average
Anil Kumble	619	29.65
Ravichandran Ashwin	486	23.61
Kapil Dev	434	29.64
Harbhajan Singh	417	32.46
Ishant Sharma	311	32.40
Zaheer Khan	311	32.94
Ravindra Jadeja	273	24.08
Bishan Singh Bedi	266	28.71
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar	242	29.74
Javagal Srinath	236	30.49

One-Day Internationals

Main article: List of India One Day International cricket records

Head-to-Head record

Opponent	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	No Result	% Won	First	Last
Full Members
Afghanistan	4	3	0	1	0	75.00	2014	2023
Australia	151	57	84	0	10	37.74	1980	2023
Bangladesh	41	32	8	0	1	78.04	1988	2023
England	107	58	44	2	3	56.73	1974	2023
Ireland	3	3	0	0	0	100.00	2007	2015
New Zealand	118	60	50	1	7	54.09	1975	2023
Pakistan	135	57	73	0	5	42.22	1978	2023
South Africa	94	40	51	0	3	42.55	1988	2024
Sri Lanka	171	99	59	2	11	57.89	1979	2024
West Indies	142	72	64	2	4	50.70	1979	2023
Zimbabwe	71	58	11	2	0	81.82	1983	2024
Associate Members
Bermuda	1	1	0	0	0	100.00	2007	2007
East Africa	1	1	0	0	0	100.00	1975	1975
Hong Kong	2	2	0	0	0	100.00	2008	2018
Kenya	13	11	2	0	0	84.62	1996	2004
Namibia	1	1	0	0	0	100.00	2003	2003
Nepal	1	1	0	0	0	100.00	2023	2023
Netherlands	3	3	0	0	0	100.00	2003	2023
Scotland	1	1	0	0	0	100.00	2007	2007
United Arab Emirates	3	3	0	0	0	100.00	1994	2015
Total	1058	559	445	10	44	52.83	1974	2024
Statistics are correct as of Sri Lanka v India at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, 07 August 2024.

Most ODI runs for India

Player	Runs	Average
Sachin Tendulkar	18,426	44.83
Virat Kohli	12,898	57.32
Sourav Ganguly	11,221	40.95
Rahul Dravid	10,889	39.15
MS Dhoni	10,773	50.58
Rohit Sharma	9,825	48.63
Mohammad Azharuddin	9,378	36.92
Yuvraj Singh	8,609	36.47
Virender Sehwag	7,995	35.37
Shikhar Dhawan	6,793	44.11

Most ODI wickets for India

Player	Wickets	Average
Anil Kumble	334	30.83
Javagal Srinath	315	28.08
Ajit Agarkar	288	27.85
Zaheer Khan	269	30.11
Harbhajan Singh	265	33.47
Kapil Dev	253	27.45
Venkatesh Prasad	196	32.30
Ravindra Jadeja	191	37.21
Irfan Pathan	173	29.72
Mohammed Shami	162	25.58

Twenty20 Internationals

Main article: List of India Twenty20 International cricket records

Head-to-Head record

Opponent	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	Tie+Win	Tie+Loss	No Result	% Won	First	Last
ICC Full Members
Afghanistan	9	7	0	0	1	0	1	77.78	2010	2024
Australia	32	20	11	0	0	0	1	62.50	2007	2024
Bangladesh	17	16	1	0	0	0	0	94.11	2009	2024
England	24	13	11	0	0	0	0	54.17	2007	2024
Ireland	8	8	0	0	0	0	0	100.00	2009	2024
New Zealand	25	12	10	1	2	0	0	48.00	2007	2023
Pakistan	13	9	3	0	1	0	0	69.23	2007	2024
South Africa	31	18	12	0	0	0	1	58.06	2006	2024
Sri Lanka	32	21	9	0	1	0	1	65.63	2009	2024
West Indies	30	19	10	0	0	0	1	63.33	2009	2023
Zimbabwe	13	10	3	0	0	0	0	76.92	2010	2024
ICC Associate members
Hong Kong	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	100.00	2022	2022
Namibia	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	100.00	2021	2021
Nepal	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	100.00	2023	2023
Netherlands	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	100.00	2022	2022
Scotland	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	50.00	2007	2021
United Arab Emirates	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	100.00	2016	2016
United States	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	100.00	2024	2024
Total	242	160	70	1	5	0	6	69.06	2006	2024
Statistics are correct as of India v South Africa - 4th T20I at Johannesburg, 15 November 2024.

Most T20I runs for India

Player	Runs	Average	Strike rate
Virat Kohli	4,008	52.73	137.97
Rohit Sharma	3,853	31.32	139.24
KL Rahul	2,265	37.75	139.12
Shikhar Dhawan	1,759	27.92	126.36
MS Dhoni	1,617	37.60	126.13

Most T20I wickets for India

Player	Wickets	Average
Yuzvendra Chahal	91	24.68
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	90	23.10
Ravichandran Ashwin	72	23.22
Jasprit Bumrah	70	20.22
Hardik Pandya	69	26.43

Players in bold text are still active with India in T20I format.

Individual records

Main article: List of India One Day International cricket records

See also: List of India Test cricketers and List of India ODI cricketers

Sachin Tendulkar celebrating his 38th Test century during a match against Australia in 2008. He holds multiple world records including the world's leading run-scorer and century maker in both Tests and ODIs.

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 score was 36 against Australia in 2020. 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 4 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). 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, which ended in a dramatic match against the West Indies in May 2006, which India lost by just 1 run.

Tendulkar was the first batsman to score 200 runs (he was unbeaten on 200 from 147 deliveries including 25 fours and 3 sixes) 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 (25 fours and 7 sixes) 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 (33 fours and 9 sixes) against Sri Lanka in Kolkata. In 2013, 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, Kohli became the first cricketer to win back-to-back man of the series awards in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and 2016 ICC World Twenty20. Kohli is also the highest scorer in T20Is as of November 2022. In 2017, Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest cricketer in history to reach 250 wickets.

Fan following

Main article: Cricket in India

Supporters of the Indian cricket team waving the Indian flag during match between India and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Owing 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, 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.

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.

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. In many cases, players have come under intense attention from the media for negative reasons, this has been considered 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. 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. 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.

Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, a fan of the Indian cricket team, travels to all Indian home games with his body painted as the Indian flag.

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 from the team, Ganguly's home town Kolkata erupted in protests. 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. 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. Similar treatment was handed to Sunil Gavaskar in the 1987 World Cup Semi Finals by crowds at Wankhede Stadium when he got bowled by Phillip DeFreitas.

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

See also

• Sport in India – Overview of sports in India
• India A cricket team
• India national under-19 cricket team
• National Cricket Academy (NCA)
• BCCI Awards
• Glossary of cricket terms

Further reading

• Majumdar, Boria (2018). Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians: The On and Off the Field Story of Cricket in India and Beyond. New Delhi: Simon & Schuster India. ISBN 978-93-86797-18-6.
• Guha, Ramachandra (2020). The Commonwealth of Cricket. ISBN 978-93-90327-28-7.
• Guha, Ramachandra (2003). A Corner of a Foreign Field. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-330-49117-4.
• Sen, Ronojoy (2015). Nation at Play. Contemporary Asia in the World. ISBN 978-0-231-16490-0.

External links

• Official website