Among the current Test playing nations, England was the first to play the sport and also made it popular. During their rule in India, the native Indians started to play the game. The first ever Test was played between Australia and England in March 1877. However, India played its first Test, against England on 25th June 1932 at Lords. It was not a memorable one and they lost by 158 runs. Two famous Indians in Ranjitsinhji and Duleepsinhji played cricket for England before India made its debut.

After India got Independence in 1947, their first Test series was an overseas tour to Australia in 1948. The Australians were led by Don Bradman and India were led by Lala Amarnath. The Australian team was a formidable one and India lost the 5 Test series 4-0. During that tour in a Test at Adelaide, Vijay Hazare became the first Indian to score a century in both innings of a Test.

India registered their first Test victory against England at Chennai (It was then known as Madras) in 1952. Their performance slowly improved and they won their first Test series against Pakistan at home in October 1952. Like most teams they initially struggled in Test cricket away from home. They finally achieved their breakthrough away from home when they beat New Zealand in New Zealand 3-1 in a Test series in 1968. Gradually, over the years their oversea performance started to improve. In 1971 they won twin Test series away from home in West Indies and England.

Over the years they became a formidable team at home and registered Test series wins at home against all nations except Bangladesh who have never toured India. India is famous for the quality of spinners they have produced over the years. The famous spin quartet in Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan are famous in cricketing folk lore for their exploits. Over the years India has improved its overseas performances and has registered series wins in all Test playing countries except South Africa and Australia.

In the Test series against West Indies in 1971, Sunil Gavaskar scored 774 runs which remains the most runs scored by a player in his debut series. Gradually, the top Indian players started becoming super stars in their own right. Gavaskar was recognised as one of the finest openers of all time and Kapil Dev made his mark as a fine all-rounder.

Slowly, India started becoming a giant at home. To this date, winning a Test series in India remains one of the most difficult tasks for an overseas team. In the last 25 years, India has lost only 3 Test series at home. India defeated Sri Lanka 2-0 in a Test series at home in December 2009 and became the number one Test team for the first time. Players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag have achieved world-wide acclaim for their batting exploits. India’s captain Sourav Ganguly was the one who instilled belief in the team by backing young players in whom he saw potential and provided inspirational leadership. After his retirement, Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over the baton and continued to assert India’s authority on the world stage. India also developed quality pace bowlers in Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan and became a more complete team capable of performing in all conditions even though there has been the occasional blip overseas.

Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh have matched the feats of their illustrious spinning predecessors and Ravichandran Ashwin has come on in leaps and bounds. India today is a powerhouse in world cricket both on and off the field.