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Indian cricket team

Few historians or sociologists can explain the craze for this sport in India learned through the colonists. Cricket has definitely found its masses through the Indian population. As Ashis Nandy had said, "cricket is an Indian game that was accidentally discovered by the British". India played its first Test in 1932. Indian cricket had mostly been confined to individual brilliance of greats like Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare, and Vinoo Mankad till attained it adulthood in 1971 with the twin victories over England and West Indies at their den. The victories also coincided with the rise of Sunil Gavaskar, and towards the end of the decade he was joined by Kapil Dev; the latter led India to their maiden World Cup triumph in 1983. With satellite television and Sachin Tendulkar ruling over Indian hearts the 1990s, the popularity of cricket in the country reached new heights. India became a world-class team as giants of the stature of Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid appeared on the scenario. In 2007 MS Dhoni led India to the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 title; four years later he ended India s 28-year quest for the World Cup. As things stand, the Indian Premier League plays a huge role in the financial market of world cricket. With a new star emerging in the form of Virat Kohli, one can only hope things get better from here.



We need to appreciate how fragile Indian cricket was throughout much of the 1950s and how much stronger Indian football was. In 1950, Indian cricket had achieved nothing on the world stage. It had yet to win a Test. Nor through the 1950s did India do much in cricket, and for most of the decade Indian cricket struggled to attract worthwhile opposition. For some seasons they had to make do with playing unofficial ‘Tests’ against so-called Commonwealth sides composed of players from many lands organized by George Duckworth. The decade ended with a series of mind-numbing defeats at home and abroad.



When the Indian cricket team took to the field for its third ODI against Australia in Ranchi on Friday, they wore military caps as a sign of solidarity with the 40 troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) killed in Kashmir’s Pulwama last month. This is dangerous terrain for the national cricket team to tread, whether knowingly or not. Firstly, it was not necessary to wear camouflage caps to publicise the cricketers’ acts of charity, as the players contributing a day’s salary to the family of the dead soldiers could have just made an announcement to that effect. Charity does not necessitate the display of outward military jingoism, as signified by donning a military cap. Never before has the Indian cricket team worn such jingoism on their heads, notwithstanding the patriotism they wear on their sleeves. Also, even though the team has contributed to other causes and players like Sachin Tendulkar and others have made private contributions or adopted villages, such acts of charity were not made under the cover of creeping militarism or ultra-nationalism, like it has been done now.



Jawaharlal Nehru’s role in Indian cricket has not received much attention from his various biographers but there is little doubt that it was a political decision he took that preserved India’s Test status. Unlike Gandhi, who had no interest in sport (once, when requested to help the hockey team, he asked, ‘Hockey, what is it?’), Nehru had played cricket at Harrow. He had not shown any great skill, but he clearly cared for the game. When the West Indies arrived he made sure the first Test was played in Delhi. It was the first representative match played in Delhi, and Nehru considered it important that free India’s first home Test series should start in the capital. Nehru knew the power of sport and did much to promote the Asian Games, whose inaugural edition in 1951 was also held in Delhi. One of my most vivid memories when growing up was to see every year a picture in the Times of India of Nehru padded up, playing in the annual parliamentary match. However, what we need to consider is the impact one of his political decisions had on Indian cricket.

Emirates airline looks set to fly India’s World Cup cricket squad to London next week. India, one of the favourites for the competition, were booked to fly with Jet Airways but following the recent grounding of all flights, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had to make last minute change in the travel plans and switch to Emirates airline, according to reports in Indian media. The team, led by captain Virat Kohli, will depart for London on May 22 on an Emirates flight from Mumbai, via Dubai, to London. The BCCI has been contacted by Arabian Business for comment. Since the grounding of Jet Airways, air fares from India have been soaring, which meant switching carriers wasn't as easy as normal.  “It’s a challenge but we are addressing it. The team will leave as planned on or before May 22,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by India media. India’s first warm-up fixture is scheduled to be played on May 25 against New Zealand. India’s opening match in the tournament is against South Africa in Southampton. Emirates, which is partner airline of the International Cricket Council, will be flying most of the national teams to the tournament in the UK. The tournament will run from May 30 to July 14, 2019. Arabian Business digital magazine: read the latest edition online

Emirates airline looks set to fly India’s World Cup cricket squad to London next week. India, one of the favourites for the competition, were booked to fly with Jet Airways but following the recent grounding of all flights, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had to make last minute change in the travel plans and switch to Emirates airline, according to reports in Indian media. The team, led by captain Virat Kohli, will depart for London on May 22 on an Emirates flight from Mumbai, via Dubai, to London. The BCCI has been contacted by Arabian Business for comment. Since the grounding of Jet Airways, air fares from India have been soaring, which meant switching carriers wasn't as easy as normal.  “It’s a challenge but we are addressing it. The team will leave as planned on or before May 22,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by India media. India’s first warm-up fixture is scheduled to be played on May 25 against New Zealand. India’s opening match in the tournament is against South Africa in Southampton. Emirates, which is partner airline of the International Cricket Council, will be flying most of the national teams to the tournament in the UK. The tournament will run from May 30 to July 14, 2019.

Widely referred to as “Dada”, Sourav Ganguly is one of the polarising figures in Indian cricket. The elegant left-handed batsman was one of the captains to revive Indian cricket from the depths of the match-fixing scandal. He announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008, but continued to play IPL and remained indulged in coaching roles.

On 26 January 1950, India finally became a republic, but remained part of this new British Commonwealth. The ICC met six months later, on 27 and 28 June 1950 at Lord’s and, reassured by this, made India a permanent member of the ICC. Rule 5 of the ICC very specifically stated that membership of ICC shall cease should the country concerned cease to be part of the British Commonwealth. Had Nehru not agreed to keep India in the Commonwealth, then Indian cricket would have failed the basic test of ICC membership. In that case it is almost certain that at its 1950 meeting the Indian board’s provisional status would not have been made permanent. India would have been cast out in the cricketing cold. The formal reason ICC gave for making India a permanent member was that the separation of Pakistan had not materially affected the standard of play in India. How it could have reached that decision is hard to see. There had been no cricket contact between England and India since 1946. Since 1947 India had been thrashed in Australia, lost at home to the West Indies and also lost to a side put together by a retired English wicketkeeper. This was the ICC using cricket talk to camouflage what was a naked political decision.