Cricket in india

2009-05-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

Cricket in india is just like religion. One who takes birth on the holy land of india, is blessed with the gift of cricket. Just like football in africa, cricket is a part of daily life of people of india...

Cricket is a bat & ball team sport that is first documented as being played in southern england in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, cricket had developed to the point where it had become the national sport of England. The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being played overseas and by the mid-19th century the first international matches were being held. Today, the sport is played in more than 100 countries. India is also amoungst them, & now has raised it's levels to the top of this game.

Ranji Trophy - Founded as 'The Cricket Championship of India' at a meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in July 1934. The first Ranji Trophy fixtures took place in the 1934-35 season. Syed Mohammed Hadi ofHyderabad was the first batsman to score a century in the tournament. The Trophy was donated by H.H. Sir Bhupendra Singh Mahinder Baha-dur, Maharajah of Patiala in memory of His late Highness Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji of Nawanagar. In the main, the Ranji Trophy is composed of teams representing the states that make up India. As the political states have multiplied, so have cricket teams, but not every state has a team. Some states have more than one cricket team, e.g. Maharashtra and Gujarat. There are also 'odd' teams like Railways, and Services representing the armed forces. The various teams used to be grouped into zones - North, West, East, Central and South - and the initial matches were played on a league basis within the zones. The top two (until 1991-92) and then top three teams (subsequent years) from each zone then played in a national knock-out competition. Starting with the 2002-03 season, the zonal system has been abandoned and a two-division structure has been adopted with two teams being promoted from the plate league and two relegated from the elite league. If the knockout matches are not finished they are decided on the first-innings lead.

Irani Trophy - The Irani Trophy tournament was conceived during the 1959-60 season to mark the completion of 25 years of the Ranji Trophy championship and was named after the late Z.R. Irani, who was associated with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from its inception in 1928, till his death in 1970 and a keen patron of the game. The first match, played between the Ranji Trophy champions and the Rest of India was played in 1959-60. For the first few years, it was played at the fag end of the season. Realising the importance of the fixture, the BCCI moved it to the beginning of the season. Since 1965-66, it has traditionally heralded the start of the new domestic season. The Irani Trophy game ranks very high in popularity and importance. It is one of the few domestic matches that is followed with keen interest by cricket lovers in the country. Leading players take part in the game which has often been a sort of selection trial to pick the Indian team for foreign tours.

Vijay Hazare Trophy- named after the prolific Indian batsman, the Vijay Hazare Trophy was started in 2002-03 as an attempt to bring the limited-overs game among a greater audience. The competition involves state teams from the Ranji trophy plates battling out in a 50-over competition, much on the lines of Ford Ranger Cup of Australia and Friends Provident Trophy of England. Since its conception, Tamil Nadu and Mumbai have won the trophy twice each. It is also dubbed as the Premier Cup by BCCI. It now joins Deodhar Trophy as the second one-day competition of Indian domestic circuit.

Duleep Trophy - The Duleep Trophy competition, a first-class competition, was started by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 1961-62 with the aim of providing a greater competitive edge in domestic cricket - because, apart from the knock-out stages of the Ranji Trophy, that competition proved predictable, with Bombay winning for fifteen consecutive years. The Duleep was also meant to help the selectors in assessing form. The original format was that five teams, drawn from the five zones, play each other on a knock-out basis. From the 1993-94 season, the competition has been converted to a league format.

Deodhar Trophy - Started in 1973-74 by Board of Control for Cricket in India, it is the current one-day cricket competition in Indian domestic cricket. 5 zonal teams - North zone, South zone, East zone, West zone and Central zone feature in the competition. North zone have won this competition 11th time. It is also called All-Star Series due to some big names representing their Zonal sides in the one-day fixtures.

Challenger series - Started as the Challenger series by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 1994-95 and later named as NKP Salve Challenger Trophy in 1998-99, the tournament features 3 teams: India senior, India A and India B playing each other. They were later renamed India Blue, India Red and India Green respectively. This competition also marked as the platform of return for some big names like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in 2005-06 season after they battled injury and form respectively. The tournament features the top 36 players from across India and is also the most popular domestic structure after IPL.

Inter-State T20 Championship - After India became another member of the ICC Twenty20 and played its first international T20 against South Africa, BCCI launched its own state structure in 2006-07 season, with 27 Ranji teams divided in 5 Zones. The final was played between Punjab and Tamil Nadu, which the latter won by 2 wickets and 2 balls remaining, thereby becoming the only ever winner of this series. In this series, Rohit Sharma also became the only ever Indian to register a T20 century for Mumbai against Gujarat. The competition was later replaced by a franchise-based IPL.

Indian Cricket League - Appalled by the state of domestic Indian cricket, Zee TV decided to launch this league as its own Twenty20 domestic series. The first matches were held in October 2007. The ICL sprung into the spotlight due to its head on battle with the Board of Control for Cricket in India.Brian Lara was the first international star to be officially drafted to play in the league. It also includes two fully drafted international teams from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Other big names include Chris Harris, Chris Cairns, Shane Bond, Marvan Atapattu, Craig Macmillan, Jason Gillespie, Stuart Lawand Michael Bevan with many others.

Indian Premier League - In response to the rival ICL, the BCCI started the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (known as the IPL). This League has been launched by BCCI have received support from all the other Cricket Boards, and International Players could be drafted into City-based Franchises. The game has been likened to Baseball with crowd participation encouraged more strongly than in other forms of the game.It has been greatly acknowledged by people and has made huge profits.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - To be played for the first time in the 2008-09 season, this will be the first of its kind zonal T20 championship and the third overall in the Indian cricket season, which would see Ranji teams divided along zonal lines into two groups with the tournament culminating in the All India T20 final between the winners of the two groups for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Launched after the success of the IPL and the need of the BCCI to search for more talent in the growing regions of cricket.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, or BCCI, is the apex governing body for cricket in India, headquartered atMumbai. The board was formed in December 1928 as the national governing body for all cricket in India. BCCI replaced Calcutta Cricket Club. It is a society, registered under theTamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. The BCCI often uses government-owned stadiums across the country at a nominal annual rent. It is a private club consortium. Basically to become a member of a state-level association, you need to be introduced by another member and also pay an annual fee. The state-level clubs select their representatives (secretaries) who in turn select the BCCI officials. As for any private club, BCCI or the state-level associations are not required to make their balance sheets public.