Most Indians at some point or the other have religiously followed our Cricket team. Even though it’s now become fashionable to dis Cricket and look at it with a lot of disdain, it remains a massively popular sport in India. A lot of the hatred that Cricket gets stems from how successful it is in our country, and how our Cricketer’s are always in the limelight. Also, fans of other sports tend to blame Cricket for the lack of development in their favorite sport. While that claim is absolutely ludicrous and cannot be further away from the truth, we’ll save the debate for another day.

Cricket was introduced in India in 1932, with legends like Iftikhar Ali Patuadi and Ranjit Sinhji (after who the Ranji Trophy is named) representing England (on grounds of India being a British colony). Post independence, it took India a significant amount of time to build a team capable of competing on the world stage. Here we have compiled a list of 6 significant firsts in the long and rich history of Indian Cricket.

1. During the 1951-52 season, India defeated England for the first time in a test match. This was under the captaincy of Vijay Hazare. Down 1-0 coming into the final test of a 5 match series, India won the last test in Madras by an innings and 8 runs. Polly Umrigar (130 not out), and Pankaj Roy (111) top scored with the bat. Vinoo Mankad was the star with the ball. His return from the match was 8/55 in the first innings, and 4/53 in the second innings.

2. During the 1959-60 season, India recorded their first ever test match win against Australia. G.S. Ramchand was captain of the team that defeated the Aussies by 119 runs in Kanpur. J.M Patel starred in the match taking 9 wickets in the first innings, and 5 wickets in the second innings, while Polly Umrigar chipped in with 4 wickets in the second innings. Nariman Contractor (74) and R.B. Kenny (51) were among the runs, as they helped India cross over the line in the second innings.

3. During the 1961-62 season, India went on to record their first ever series win against England under the stewardship of Nariman Contractor. With the series being tied after the first 3 matches, India went on to register a win in the 4th test in Calcutta by 187 runs. Chandu Borde (68), Pataudi Jr (64), and Vijay Mehra (62) chipped in with the bat for India in the first innings, with Borde going on the make 61 in the second innings as well. Salim Durani (5/47), and Chandu Borde again (4/65) starred for India with the ball in the first innings, with Durani doing the damage in the second innings with figures of 3/66. India also went on to win the final test in Madras, thus winning the series 2-0. Patuadi Jr (103), and Nari Contractor (86) top scored for India in the first innings of the Madras test, while Vijay Manjrekar top scored in the second with 85 runs. Durani took a match haul of 10 wickets, and Borde took a match haul of 5 wickets to spearhead India’s bowling effort.

4. During the 1967-68 season, India won a test match series outside of the subcontinent for the first time. The win was at New Zealand’s expense, who were defeated 3-1. It is important to take note that New Zealand were not considered a great team at the time. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (Pataudi Jr) was the captain of this squad.

5. During the 1970-71 season, India registered their first ever test match and series win against the West Indies under the captaincy of Ajith Wadekar. Previously, India had never managed to beat the might Windies even back home. In the second test in Port of Spain, India won the match by 7 wickets chasing a target of 124. Prasanna (4/54) and Bedi (3/46) performed with the ball for India in the first innings, and Dilip Sardesai (112) top scored with the bat. Venkataraghavan with 5/96 was the star among the Indian bowlers in the second innings, while Sunny Gavaskar with an unbeaten 67 lead the batting effort..

6. During the 1970-71 season, India went onto register their first ever test match and series win in England, again under the able leadership of Ajith Wadekar. India won the 3rd test of the series after the initial two games were drawn. Chasing 173 in the fourth innings, India won the match by 6 wickets. Wadekar (45) and Sardesai (40) top scored with the bat to give India the match and the series.