Indian National Cricket Team

The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), it is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test and One Day International (ODI) status.

The Indian cricket team is currently ranked first (as of 6 December 2009) by the ICC in Tests and second(as of 6 December 2009) in ODIs. As of December, 2009, the Indian team has played 430 Test matches, winning 101, losing 136 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.