Portal:India/Today's selected article/May 19, 2006

The Indian cricket team is an international cricket team representing India. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the main cricketing governing body in India. Cricket is the de facto national sport of India, with a huge fan base.

The Indian cricket team made its debut in Test cricket, the highest level of international cricket, on June 25, 1932 at Lord's, England, becoming the sixth Test team. For nearly fifty years, the India was weaker than most of the other Test cricket teams, such as Australia and England. The team gained strength in the 1970s with the emergence of players such as Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev and the Indian spin quartet, and the Indian team has continued to be highly ranked since then in both Test cricket and One-day Internationals. The team won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 and were runners-up in 2003. The current team contains many of the world's leading players, including Sachin Tendulkar. As of 9 April 2006, the team is ranked third in the ICC Test Championship and third in the ICC ODI Championship. (continued...)