Check out the history of Test cricket in India

In the cricketing terminology, it is often said that Test cricket is considered as the purest and the most challenging format of the game. Test cricket has a rich history when it comes to the global platform, however, the craze, excitement and the popularity is much bigger here in India. On the other hand, the history of Indian Test cricket has to be one of the most proudest and memorable journey for both the cricketers and millions of Indian cricket fans. Incidentally, the Englishmen introduced cricket in India during the British rule early in the 18th century. It is quiet ironical that the first-ever recorded cricket match was played in 1721 between the British sailors and the local Indian marchants. 

Emergence of Indian cricket team and Test cricket in India

The Calcutta Cricket Club was the first-ever cricket club in India that was established in 1848 after which both Bombay and Madras formed their respective cricket clubs. Interestingly, the first Indian cricket team, the Parsi community came into existence in 1877. However, the Indian cricket took giant strides only after becoming a full-time member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1932. But the most historic moment came on 25 June, 1932 when India played its first-ever Test match against England at the iconic Lord's. 

Under the captaincy of CK Nayudu, the Indian cricket team toured England to play a one-off Test match, which was supposed to be a celebrated event. England captain Douglas Jardine won the toss and elected to bat first. The English skipper led his team from the front as he played an impressive innings of 79 runs and a half-century from Les Ames helped the hosts put up a total of 259 runs in their first innings. For India, right-arm fast bowler Mohammad Nissar bowled amazingly well taking India's first-ever five-wicket haul in the longest format of the game. 

In reply, the visiting Indian team were bowled out for a total of 189 runs with skipper CK Nayudu being the top-scorer, 40 runs, while many of the other top order batters also got starts but failed to convert them into big runs. For England, the duo of Bill Bowes and Bill Voce picked up four and three wickets respectively. England skipper once again batted really well in the second innings as he smashed an unbeaten knock of 85 runs while Eddie Paynter too scored a fifty and the hosts declared their innings at 275 for 8. The Indian team bundled out for 187 runs in the fourth innings and ended up suffering a massive 158-run defeat. 

The story of India's first Test win

Incidentally, India's first Test win also came against England in 1952. England were touring India for a five-match Test series and the hosts were trailing 0-1 until the fifth and final Test match in Chennai. India's legendary spinner Vinoo Mankad bowled magnificentally well as he managed to take a total of eight wickets to bowl out England for 266 runs in the first innings. On the other hand, Pankaj Roy played a remarkable knock of 111 runs and Polly Umrigar composed a briilliant unbeaten innings of 130 runs as India declared their innings at 457 for 9. India's spin duo of Ghulam Ahmed and Vinoo Mankad picked up four wickets each as England were bowled out for 183 runs in the second innings. It was a historic moment as India won by an innings and 8 runs, being their first win in Test cricket. 

Interestingly, after playing their first-ever Test match in 1932, India managed to pick up their first overseas Test win in 1968. Under the captaincy of MAK Pataudi, India toured New Zealand for a four-match Test series. New Zealand started off really well as they posted 350 runs on the board in the first innings. For India, the duo of Farokh Engineer and Ajit Wadekar showed great temperament in some challenging Test cricket Kiwi conditions as they scored 63 and 80 runs respectively. India were bowled out for 359 runs in the first innings after which legendary off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna picked up an exceptional six-wicket haul as England crumbled for a total of 208 runs in their second innings. While chasing a target of 200 runs, Wadekar once again fought really well and notched up 71 runs and India registered their first-ever overseas Test victory by a margin of 5 wickets. 

New Zealand came back really well in the second Test match to draw the series level at 1-1. However, the MAK Pataudi-led Indian cricket team landed on the Kiwi soil with a target to make history and they were absolutely focused to achieve it. India defeated New Zealand by 8 wickets in the third Test match. After picking up their first-ever overseas Test victory in Dunedin, India managed to register a spectacular 272-run win in the final Test match and also won their first overseas series victory by a 3-1 margin. 

While talking about the Indian Test cricket history, it is very much important to mention the memorable first Test series win in England and West Indies. Interestingly, under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar, India managed to pick up their first-ever Test series win both in England and West Indies in 1971. On the other hand, the wait was much longer with respect to the first Test series win in Australia. Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, India picked up a fantastic Test series win in Australia in the 2018-19 season. The Indian team made history with back-to-back Border Gavaskar Trophy victories Down Under when they did the unthinkable in 2020-21 season. 

There have been a number of legendary cricketers who have contributed immensely well in the success of India Test cricket. In the batting department, the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath, Ajit Wadekar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman were rated very high in the past. Currently, the likes of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant have performed brilliantly for India in the longer format of the game. On the other hand, in the bowling department, the Indian cricket team were blessed with Vinoo Mankad, Kapil Dev, Erapalli Prasanna, Bishan Singh Bedi during the past while players like Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja have also bowled very well in Test cricket.