Empire Of Cricket - India Documentary Part 6 of 6

Cricket is the de facto national sport of India. Though cricket is indubitably the most popular sport in India, it is not the nation's official national sport (a distinction held by field hockey).

Cricket in India

International cricket in India generally does not follow a fixed pattern. For example, the English schedule under which the nation tours other countries during winter and plays at home during the summer. Generally, there has recently been a tendency to play more one-day matches than Test matches. Cricket in India is managed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the richest cricket board in the cricket world. Indian International Cricketing Squad has also provided some of the greatest players to the world. Indian cricket has a rich history.

The Indian cricket team is currently ranked first (as of 21 March 2010) by the ICC in Tests and second (as of 21 March 2010) in ODIs. As of March 2010, the Indian team has played 437 Test matches, winning 104, losing 137 and drawing 195 of its games, with 1 match ending in a tie. India has a relatively better record in One Day Internationals, winning over 50% of matches played. Currently, Gary Kirsten is the head coach while Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain in all forms of the game. Under the leadership of Dhoni, the Indian team has set a national record for most back-to-back ODI wins (9 straight wins) and has emerged as one of the most formidable teams in international cricket.

Although cricket was introduced to India by European merchant sailors in the 18th-century and the first cricket club in India was established in Calcutta in 1792, India's national cricket team didn't play their first Test match until 25 June 1932 at Lord's. They became the sixth team to be granted Test cricket status. In their first fifty years of international cricket, India proved weaker than Australia and England, winning only 35 of the 196 test matches. The team, however, gained strength near the end of the 1970s with the emergence of players such as Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Mohammed Azharuddin and the Indian spin quartet. Traditionally much stronger at home than abroad, the Indian team has improved its overseas form since the start of the 21st century. It won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 and was runners-up in 2003. It also won the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007. The current team contains many of the world's leading players, including Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid who hold numerous cricketing world records

The Indian Premier League (often abbreviated as IPL), is a Twenty20 cricket competition initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquartered in Mumbai and supervised by BCCI Vice President Chirayu Amin, chairman & commissioner for IPL, and CEO, Sundar Raman. It presently includes 8 teams (franchises) consisting of players from different countries. It was started after an altercation between the BCCI and the Indian Cricket League.

In 2010, IPL became the first sporting event ever to be broadcast live on the popular video sharing website YouTube. It's brand value was estimated to be around $4.13 billion (over Rs 18,000 crore) the same year. According to global sports salaries review, IPL is the second highest-paid league, based on first-team salaries on a pro rata basis, second only to the NBA. It is estimated that the average salary of an IPL player over a year would be £2.5 million

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[abc507]

saurav ganguly taking off his shirt at Lords is in some ways the defining moment in modern Indian cricket. the narrator was right, that day he expressed what millions were yearning to express, that feeling of "I am an Indian, so what? If you don't like it go stuff yourself".

[dewan357]

Jai Hind

[sajan123able]

GOOD

[hanros98]

@abc507 he also did it because flintoff did a similar thing in india, yet the english had the hypocrisy to criticise ganguly because he was at lords

[rahhar10]

Super awesome n well said..:-) India is super power of cricket world..:-)

[be9easy3]

@dewan357 Gay Hind

[abhiworld4u]

@abhiworld4u

Nonetheless, a fantastic piece of work from BBC.

[abhiworld4u]

I felt Dravid did not receive his due credit in this documentary. No word of Kumble? India's highest wicket taker? They are not glamorous, but they have defined Indian cricket in 90s and 00s. At least mention his name, if not a 10 min foot print! If you are arguing that this documentary is revolving around the "History" of Indian cricket, where is Gundappa Vishwanath?

[pratapi]

good one, but theres a big mistake by BBC.. cricket is not India's National sport..field hockey still is

[mojare1]

Go India Go... and laugh at our poor neighbours (the Pakis, in case of any doubt) as we touch the sky with glory !!!!

[theezzyjet]

very well made documentary 

[luuzann]

ipl rulz