History of Indian cricket - Before 1930

The game of cricket was introduced in India in the middle of the 18th century. On 3rd March 1845 the ‘Sporting Intelligence’ magazine carried a reasonably lengthy match report between ‘Sepoy’ cricketers and the European ones. The article clearly proved that Indian cricket was underway in a city called Sylhet, in modern day Bangladesh.
An impressed reporter proudly stated “the most enthusiastic European Cricketers could not have played with more energy and cheerfulness than the Sepoys did”.

However, chroniclers of cricket unanimously suggest that the formation of ‘Parsi Oriental Cricket Club’ in Bombay in the year 1848 led to the start of organized cricket by the Indians.

Parsi cricket

The first Indians to take to the game were the Parsis of Bombay, an educated, well-to-do and progressive community. In 1848, the Parsi boys established the ‘Oriental Cricket Club’.

The emerging Parsi middle class supported cricket as a means of strengthening ties with the overlords, while intellectuals welcomed it as a renewal of physical energy for the race. Around thirty Parsi clubs were formed in the within two decades of the formation of the first club. They were named for British viceroys and statesmen and for Roman gods.

Hindu cricket

The Hindu’s took up the game of cricket with the primary reason that they did not want to fall behind the Parsis in any manner. The first Hindu club ‘Bombay Union’ was formed in 1866. Hindus started playing cricket due to social and business rivalry with the Parsis. Hindu cricketers sorted themselves on the lines of caste and region of origin.

One of the primary Hindu cricketer was Ramchandra Vishnu Navlekar.
Some of the main clubs were Gowd Saraswat Cricket Club, Kshatriya Cricket Club, Gujrati Union Cricket Club, Maratha Cricket Club, Teluu Youn Cricketrs etc.

“There is no more agreeable sight to me,” remarked the Mayor of Bombay in 1886, “than of the whole Maidan overspread by a lot of enthusiastic Parsi and Hindu cricketers, keenly and eagerly engaged in this manly game.”

Gymkhanas

The all-white Bombay Gymkhana, which even refused admission to Ranji, was established in 1875. The Europeans invited the Parsis to paly with them for the first time in 1877. This more or less became a regular feature though it was a decade before the Parsis’ eventually managed to win. Beginning from 1886, the Hindus also began playing an annual match with the Europeans.

With the efforts of Luxmani and Tyebjee families, also famous for their social work such as establishing schools and good work at the law courts, the Muslims had also set up their own cricket club in 1883. This was known as the Muslim Cricket Club.

Cricket in India got a huge impetus by the formation of Parsi, Hindu and Muslim Gymkhanas in the 1890s. The British alloted one plot each to the three major religious communities in the city, for their exclusive use ending their conflict with the colonizers.

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. CK Nayudu was Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year in 1933 and was also nicknamed as the ‘Hindu Bradman’.

Formation of BCCI

A.E.R Gilligan’s MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) toured India in 1926 and took on Bombay in a match that proved to be a turning point in the history of Indian cricket. As C K Naidu smashed 153, with elevan sixes and thirteen fours, for the Hindus, India began dreaming big. It eventually led to the formation of BCCI in 1928. Records prove that the first meeting was held on 4 December 1928 and was funded by the Maharaja of Patiala.

The first President of the Board was RE Grant Govan and the founding Secretary was AS De Mello. De Mello later went on to become Board President and was also involved in the creation of the Cricket Club of India. He also helped in establishing Brabourne Stadium which was India’s first permanent cricket venue in 1937.

Memoirs Of Sachin The Child Genius

For most of them, Sachin Tendulkar remains the boy-next-door. Only that they lead different lives. They are members of Sachin Tendulkar's first playing eleven who got together every evening in the serene settings of Sahitya Sahwas — also known as the abode of Maharashtra's famous literature — to put bat to ball much before he became a cult figure. The boys, who obviously are among his biggest admirers, remember him as much for his cricketing feats as they do for his childhood antics. "He loved to pick up a fight," says Sunil Harshe, Sachin's senior in school.

"Every time I introduced him to somebody in school, his first reaction was, will I be able to beat him? Invariably, if one entered the class during the recess, he would be fighting."

He also had a weakness for spinning yarns, remembers another friend Satyajit Anekar. "Once when he had cut his finger he said it was because he tried to touch a helicopter that had flown over his terrace, which had emerged between two adjacent buildings. And he went on to tell us how he had bled buckets!"

Harshe says he was equally good at tennis and was a big fan of John McEnroe. "We started off playing without rackets. I still remember how happy we were when we brought our first racquets. In fact, there was a time when I believed he would turn out to be a good tennis player. But look what he has turned out to be," muses Harshe, who incidentally was the first captain Sachin played under during the inter-colony soft-ball matches. Academics was never his cup of tea. He loved the outdoors so much his maid Laxmibai had to run around to feed him. But Little Sachin never forgot to share his meals with the colony watchman's son, Ramesh Pardhe, who was a regular companion.

Pardhe distinctly remembers Sachins cricketing acumen. "We used to often play on the terrace. One day I saw him carry a bucket of water to the terrace. He asked me to dip the rubber ball in water and then hurl the ball at him. He would then see the marks the wet ball made on the bat and know whether he had middled the ball correctly"

Another fascination for Sachin were band-aids. Any semblance of a wound would make him rush for the band-aid strip, says Pardhe. He was an expert at sticking it with one hand.

The cricketing turnaround happened soon. Everything started to change once he joined Shardashram High School. Once he began representing Shardashram he had this immense self-belief that he could make it in cricket, says Anekar.

Much has changed since, but Sachhu continues to be the same for the entire neighbourhood, even though he no longer lives there.

Amazing India - Stuff I Bet You Didn't Know About

• India is the world’s largest, oldest, continuous civilization.
• India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.
• India is the world’s largest democracy.
• Varanasi, also known as Benares, was called “the ancient city” when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
• India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
• The World’s first university was established in Takshashila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
• Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for a computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.
• Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India’s wealth.
• The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit ‘Nou’.
• Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.
• The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.
• Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of 12).
• IEEE has proved what has been a century old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof. Jagdish Bose and not Marconi.
• The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
• Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
• Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.
• When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).
• The four religions born in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world’s population.
• The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.
• India has the second largest pool of Scientists and Engineers in the World.
• India is the largest English speaking nation in the world.
• India is the only country other than US and Japan, to have built a super computer indigenously.
• Indian film industry is the largest film industry in the world and every year more than 1000 films are produced in India. Indian cinema has made its mark all over the world. Indian actors are in demand in Hollywood movies, and leading Indian stars are popular in far-flung corners of the world. Indian cinema has a history of nearly 100 years and has become an integral part of Indian society and culture. Here are some interesting facts on cinema

9+9 Tendulkar Moments That Will Make You Smile

So You Think You Know Your Hollywood Stars?

Tom Hanks


Tom Cruise


Robert De Niro

Robbie Williams

Pamela Anderson

Michael Jordan

Michael and Ralf Schumacher

Mariah Carey

Madonna

Leonardo DiCaprio

Keanu Reeves

Julia Roberts

Jennifer Lopez

Jean Claude Van Damme

Helen Hunt

Halle Berry

George Clooney

Drew Barrimore

Demi Moore

Christina Aguilera

Cher

Bruce Willis

Britney Spears

Anna Kournikova

Angelina Jolie

9+9 Amazing Facts Of The World: Part Deux

• It takes 8 minutes 17 seconds for light to travel from the Sun’s surface to the Earth.
• 10 percent of all human beings ever born are alive at this very moment.
• An embezzler in Thailand, sentenced to 865 years in jail, was lucky enough to get his sentenced reduced to just 576 years.
• Most American automobile horns beep in the key of F.
• An Anteater is nearly 6 feet long, yet its mouth is only an inch wide.
• The Incas considered bridges to be so sacred that anyone who tampered with one was put to death.
• The average life span of an umbrella is under two years.
• There is a city called Rome in every continent.
• A donkey will sink in quick sand, while a mule will not.
• The McDonald’s™ at Toronto’s ‘SkyDome’ is the only McDonald’s™ location that sells hot dogs.
• Only 11 percent of the earth's surface is used to grow food.
• Switzerland is one of the only countries to have no mineral deposit in it.
• The largest lake in the world i.e. the Caspian sea measures about 980 km from North to South and 215 to 440 km in breadth, with an area of 371,800 sq.km.
• King Henry VIII slept with a gigantic axe.
• The skin needed for elbow transplants must be taken from the scrotum of a cadaver.
• More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
• A crocodile can’t stick its tongue out.
• A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why.

9 Things About Our Bollywood Stars That You Didn't Know Of

• Rekha doesn't feel the heat, nor the cold. That's right! Rekha does not use the air-conditioner at all. She believes that heat and cold are a state of the mind.
• You know him as the poet, author and filmmaker. But did you know Gulzar the tennis player? For as long as one can remember, the poet wakes up at 4.30 am, gets into his tennis togs and leaves home for an invigorating two-hour game.
• Terrific entertainer on screen, but did you know Arshad Warsi and his wife love to entertain guests in their home? The man who makes the world laugh also makes the best biryani in Bollywood. Friends swear by Arshad's culinary skills.
• She sings like an angel, right? Did you know that Lata Mangeshkar's second favourite passion in life is photography?
• From maintaining the most perfect home in Bollywood and looking after two of the biggest stars in Asia, Jaya Bachchan is also the most meticulous phone person in the film industry. No message goes unnoticed. No call goes unreturned. Also, thanks to the Bachchans' ever-efficient secretary Rosy Singh, no friend's birthday goes unnoticed.
• Imran Khan is a good cook and according to him cooking is a therapeutic exercise. After a long day's work, its cooking that helps him unwind. His favorite dish is Dal Tadka and Rice.
• Aamir Khan’s roots are connected to Afghanistan as he is a descendant of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
• Akshay Kumar's quite sentimental about the 'firsts' in his life. He still keeps his first house, car and motorcycle.
• John Abraham's father is a Malayali Syrian Christian architect, from Alwaye, Kerala in India. His mother, Phiroza Irani, is part of Mumbai's Parsi community. Abraham's Parsi name is “Farhan” to which his father, being a catholic, added “Abraham” as a respect for the Bible and named him “John“.

9+9 Amazing Facts Using Numbers

• In one year the average human heart circulates from 770,000 to 1.6 million gallons of blood through the body.
• The average ejaculate contains as many as 787 million sperm.
• The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words.
• 123456787654321 is 11,111,111 multiplied by itself.
• According to the film's animators, you'll see 6,469,952 black spots every time you watch 101 Dalmatians.
• Barbie's measurements, if she were life size, would be 39-23-33.
• The number 2,520 can be divided by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 without having a fractional leftover.
• A sneeze can travel as fast as 100 miles per hour.
• The numbers on opposite sides of a die always add up to seven.
• India has the most post offices of any country with 280,181.
• In 1930, the heaviest a female flight attendant could be was 115 pounds. They also had to be unmarried nurses.
• There is a way of writing 1 by using all ten single-digit numbers at once:148/296 + 35/70 = 1.
• Of the 25 highest mountains on earth, 19 are in the Himalayas.
• Lightning puts 10,000,000 tons of nitrogen into the earth each year.
• It takes 120 drops of water to fill a teaspoon.
• Ninety percent of all species that have become extinct have been birds.
• Elephants produce 50 pounds of manure every day.

9 'I Bet You Didn't Know' Facts About Gambling

• The Romans loved games of chance and made dice out of sheep’s knuckles.
• The oldest dice known to man were found in the north of Iraq. They are roughly five thousand years old.
• Poker evolved from a French game: poque, which in turn is an adaptation of a German card game: pochen which means “to brag”.
• A “Dead Man’s Hand” is called so because this was the hand that Wild Bill Hickok had when he was murdered. Hickok was a famous gunman, lawman, scout and gambler from the American Old West. He was killed in a shoot-out while playing poker in Dakota.
• In a new deck of cards, the order of card suits from top to bottom is as follows: hearts, clubs, diamonds then spades.
• The King of clubs and the king of diamonds are known as the “Kissing Kings”
• Blackjack is called blackjack because of a trend of some casinos paying a bonus for a hand of an ace and a jack of spades. The blackjack was essential for the extra pay out, so the game´s name evolved from twenty-one to blackjack.
• The forerunner to roulette was a game developed in England called roly-poly. Roly-poly had white spaces and black spaces, a “bar black” and a “bar white”, which were the older games´s version of the zero pocket. You bet on black or white and if the ball landed in bar black or bar white, you lost the bet. Even in those days the casinos had a house edge!
• The face cards that are featured on mondern day playing cards have evolved from a design originally used in the 1400s in France. King David is the king of spades, Alexander the Great is the king of clubs, Charlemagne is the king of hearts and Julius Ceaser is the king of diamonds.