Friday, September 26, 2008

History of Indian cricket - Before 1930s

Ranjit Singhji

A notable mention in this era is the vital contribution of the Black Prince, Prince Ranjit Singhji who had moved to England to study at Cambridge University and was given a cricket “blue” in his final year by the college.

He then went on to play county cricket for Sussex. He made his Test debut for England in 1896. This made him the first Indian to play Test cricket.

Ranjit Singhji was Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1897. He scored a century in the second innings on his Test debut, making his only the second batsman for England to achieve this feat. Duing the year 1899 he amassed 2,780 runs during a season which was the highest aggregate ever made!

India’s most prestigious first-class cricket tournament – Ranji Trophy was named after him in order to honour this great cricketer.

The Bombay Quadrangular

It started as a contest between the Parsis and the Europeans and evolved thereafter. The Hindus joined in 1886. These matches came to be called the Presidency matches due to their ever-rising popularity. In 1907 a triangular tournament was started which involved the Parsis, Europeans and the Hindus.


It was in 1912 that the Muslims joined the league of the famous Bombay tournaments turning it into a Quadrangular. Neutral umpires were introduced for the first time in 1917. Uptil now, umpires were mainly appointed from the Bombay Gymkhana. However, all this changed and umpires began to be appointed from the non-competing teams.

In the 1920’s, the quadrangular tournament gained immense popularity. Players were being selected from all over the sub-continent region. This gave a huge boost to cricket in India and led to the start of several other tournaments all over the country.

In the year 1937, a new team called the Rests was also added to the already four teams turning it into a Pentangular tournament. However, in 1946 due to communal disturbances this Pentangular tournament was done away with, and a zonal competition came into existence.

The Nayudus from Nagpur

The Nayudu family spent thousands on the promotion of cricket. They formed a club in Nagpur that coached many underprivelaged boys and took care of their education provided they fulfilled the only condition, that is, to play cricket.

Such was the family’s fascination with the sport that C K Nayudu’s birth was celebrated by his granddad by organising a cricket match.

The family’s contribution proved fruitful as C.K Nayudu, the family’s illustrious son, went on to become one of the finest batsmen that India has ever produced.

One of Nayudu’s most memorable innings was his 153 in Bombay in 1926. Coming in an hour and thirteen minutes against six English top line bowlers spoke volumes of the progress made by Indian cricket. C.K Nayudu was Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year in 1933 and was also nicknamed as the ‘Hindu Bradman’

sourcehttp://cricket.zeenews.com/crichistory.asp?nid=76&pg=2

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