India’s cricketing history is so rich. The Britishers brought along the sport to our shores, and we hung on to it like it was ours more than anyone else.
And no wonder we have a mad following for the gentleman’s game. Cricket has seen an astronomical rise in India from pre-independence days to now.
In between, we witnessed India’s first-ever match, first-ever win, first-ever centurion, and many such firsts. These firsts are so special, which are now part of history.
So, in this article, we’ll look at the firsts for India’s men’s team in cricket history.
First Match
Test: India played their first-ever Test match in June 1932, when the country was still under British rule. The debut Test unfolded at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground against England, though India lost the match by 158 runs.
ODI: Thirty-two years later, India made their ODI debut against the same opposition. The match took place on July 13, 1974, at Headingley, with England beating India by four wickets.
T20I: India’s first T20I appearance came against South Africa on December 1, 2006. In T20Is, though, the Men in Blue started on a winning note, securing a six-wicket victory in Johannesburg.
First Cap
Test: Amar Singh was the first Indian player to get the first Test cap. He was part of India’s debut Test, where he shone with the ball and bat, taking four wickets and scoring India’s first Test fifty.
ODI: Syed Abid Ali was the first Indian to receive the first ODI cap during India’s maiden match.
T20I: In the shortest format, Ajit Agarkar donned the first cap in the match against South Africa in 2006. It was a short stint for Agarkar in T20Is.
First Win (Match)
Test: India had to wait almost 20 years to taste their first Test win. And it came against England at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai in February 1952.
It was the last Test of the five-match series, with England leading it by 1-0. But India stunned the visitors by wrapping them twice on 266 and 183 while declaring their innings on 457 for nine.
Vinoo Mankad (12 wickets), Polly Umrigar (130*), and Pankaj Roy (111) were the chief architects as India beat England by an innings and eight runs. Vijay Hazare became the first captain to register India’s first Test win.
ODI: In the 50-over format, though, the wait was pretty short. After losing their first three ODIs against England, India sneaked their first win against now-defunct East Africa.
The match was part of the inaugural ODI World Cup, with East Africa opting to bat first. India bowled them out for 120 and then handed them a drubbing by 10 wickets. S. Venkataraghavan was the man-in-charge of India then.
T20I: India started their T20I journey straight away with a win. They defeated South Africa in the one-off match played in 2006.
South Africa mustered 126 for nine in their 20 overs, which India chased down with a ball and six wickets to spare. Virender Sehwag guided India to their first T20I win.
First Captain
Test: Colonel C. K. Nayudu became India’s first Test captain after a lot of back and forth. In fact, he wasn’t supposed to lead India in their debut Test, as only members from Royal families used to captain the team. But the designated captain, Maharaja of Porbandar, and vice-captain, K. S. G. Limbdi, backed out and let Nayudu lead the team.
ODI: Ajit Wadekar was the first captain of India in ODI cricket. He stood as skipper in India’s first two matches.
T20I: Virender Sehwag was India’s first T20I captain, leading the team in their debut match. That was the only T20I match Sehwag stood in as a skipper.
First Series Win (Home & Away)
Test: 1952 was a remarkable year for India as they not only won their first Test but also their first-ever Test series. India won the five-match series against Pakistan by 2-1 at home. India won the first and third matches, with Pakistan winning the second and the last two ending in draws.
India had to further wait 16 years to taste their first overseas Test series victory. New Zealand hosted India for a four-match series in 1968, which the visitors started with a win.
New Zealand staged a comeback in the second Test before India cleaned up the next two to register their first away series win.
ODI: India played their first ODI series at home in 1981/82 and emerged as the winners. They hosted England for a three-match series, with each game scheduled a month apart. The visitors won the first match, but then India bounced back in the next two games to take the series 2-1.
Two years later, India won the first overseas ODI series. This time they toured England for a two-match series, which ended 1-1. But India clinched the series based on the scoring rate.
T20I: India’s first home T20I series win (involving two or more matches) came in 2016. The Men in Blue hosted Sri Lanka for a three-match series. Sri Lanka opened the series with a win, but then India dominated the visitors with two comprehensive victories to win the series 2-1.
Before their home series victory, the Indian men had secured their first overseas series win back in 2010. India toured Zimbabwe for a two-match series and returned with a 2-0 victory.
First World Cup Title Win
ODI: India’s performance in the first two ODI World Cups was lacklustre. And they weren’t favourites either in the third edition in 1983. But the Indian men led by Kapil Dev shocked the whole world by defeating the West Indies in the summit clash.
T20I: India won their first T20 World Cup back in the inaugural edition played in 2007. A young MS Dhoni led an inexperienced squad to the title victory by beating Pakistan in the final.
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First Century
Test: Lala Amarnath scored the first Test century for India in what was the first-ever Test played in the country. The right-hand batter amassed 118 runs in 185 minutes against England at the Bombay Gymkhana in 1933. His knock included 21 boundaries.
ODI: India played their maiden ODI in 1974, but it took almost nine years for a batter to cross the 100-run barrier in an innings. Kapil Dev smashed the first ODI century for India in the 1983 World Cup. It was a whirlwind knock of 175 not out, which took India’s total from 9/4 to 266/8 against Zimbabwe.
T20I: Suresh Raina scored the first T20I century for India. The southpaw batter brought up the three figures against South Africa in Gros Islet in the 2010 T20 World Cup. His 101-run knock helped India post 186 runs on the board and later win the match by 14 runs.
Also Read | List: First Batter to Score T20I Century from Each Country
First Double Century
Test: In 1955, Polly Umrigar became the first Test double centurion for India. He batted for 503 minutes to bring up 223 runs at No. 3 against New Zealand. In between, Umrigar stitched a 238-run stand with Vijay Manjrekar and a 219-run partnership with AG Kripal Singh, helping India declare on 498 for four.
ODI: No surprises here. The legendary Sachin Tendulkar racked up the first-ever ODI double century. He accumulated an unbeaten 200 against South Africa in 2010.
First Triple Century
Virender Sehwag was the first-ever triple centurion for India in Test cricket. The former explosive opener surpassed the mark against Pakistan in 2004. Sehwag took 364 balls to reach the 300-run mark.
First Five-Wicket Haul
Test: Mohammad Nissar was a top performer in India’s debut Test match against England. In that match, the former pacer bagged the first five-wicket haul (5/93) for India in Test cricket.
Nissar struck earlier in the first innings, reducing England to 11 for two. He then dismissed a set Les Ames, followed by Walter Robins and Freddie Brown to complete his five-for.
ODI: Kapil Dev was the first one to take a fifer for India in ODIs, though it came before his hundred. The former captain registered the figures of five for 43 against Australia in the 1983 World Cup.
Dev drew the first blood on 11 by uprooting Kepler Wessels’ stumps. He then removed Rod Marsh, Ken MacLeay, Tom Hogan, and Geoff Lawson towards the end.
T20I: India’s first five-wicket haul in T20Is came after a decade of their debut in the format. Yuzvendra Chahal got the honour against England in Bengaluru in 2017.
India posted 202 runs in the first innings, and then Chahal strangled the visitors by taking six wickets for 25 runs.
First Hat-trick
Test: Harbhajan Singh became the first bowler to take a Test hat-trick for India. He picked up three consecutive wickets against Australia in the memorable 2001 Kolkata Test.
The former off-spinner removed Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, and Shane Warne in the 72nd over of Australia’s innings. Later, Harbhajan helped India win the match by 171 runs.
ODI: Before Harbhajan, it was Chetan Sharma who first achieved the feat in international cricket. The former pacer bagged the first-ever hat-trick for India in ODI cricket.
India were playing against New Zealand in the 1987 World Cup, hosted in India for the first time. It was their last group stage game in Nagpur, with New Zealand batting first.
New Zealand were struggling 182 for five, and then Sharma shattered the stumps not once but three times in a row. He clean-bowled Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith, and Ewen Chatfield, registering the first hat-trick in the ODI World Cups.
T20I: Deepak Chahar picked up the first T20I hat-trick for India. He completed the feat across two overs against Bangladesh in 2019.
Chahar dismissed Shafiul Islam on the last ball of the 18th over. He then returned to bowl the 20th over and wrapped up Bangladesh’s chase with the wickets of Mustafizur Rahman and Aminul Islam.
Coincidentally, this match also took place in Nagpur, where Chetan Sharma logged this feat in ODIs 32 years ago.
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