TEAM INDIA EVOLUTION

Cricket was first played in India by European merchants in 18th Century, a game played mainly by british who used to play the game as a leisure outdoor activity. Cricket got serious with the establishment of the a first-class cricket club in 1792, India's national cricket team did not play its first Test match until 25 June 1932 at Lord's.

 The test series with the dominant Australia and England Teams didn't go well and it took many-a-years for the test side to register its first Test victory in 1954 against England in Chennai. Then came the captainship of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi who lead the squad for about 14 years and provided India its first-ever victory on the foreign soil and Test series win.

The Indian Test side played well at home, using lots of defense players like Sunil Gavaskar and G. Vishwanath and good spinners. This strategy worked for India and it produced back-to-back series wins against England and West India. But with the advent of ODI cricket in 1971, India couldn't perform well in it with their defensive approach towards the game. It was duringthe 1980's, India developed a more attack-minded battng line-up with strokemakers such as the wristy Mohammed Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar and all-rounder Ravi Shastri. India started as an under-dog, eventually won  Cricket World Cup in 1983, defeating the favorites and two-time defending Champions West Indies. It was in this period that the best batsman ever Sunil Gavaskar and all-rounder Kapil Dev were at the pinnacle of their careers.

 

Cometh 1989 and 1990, team became even better with inclusion of future legend, Sachin Tendulkar and best spinner Anil Kumble. Through 1990s, team was dominant in domestic games but failed miserably overseas. The Lord’s Test in 1996 saw the debut of two star batsmen and future captains, SouravGanguly and Rahul Dravid. All these years, Mohammed Azheruddin won record 14 Test matches and 103 ODIs under his command. Thus, making him the best captain ever. Post Azher’s dismissal, Sachin lead the side but his poor slump in form resulted in his ouster as captain and thus, captainship was awarded to Ganguly.

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