Infinite Knowledge
11 min readFeb 6, 2021

All The Awesome things About Cricket !

Read original post at https://infiniteknowledge.in/all-the-awesome-things-about-cricket/?_unique_id=601eded042c18

Cricket is the most loved sport after football and the world of cricket is full of awesome and interesting things !!! Today…

We will first talk about the Interesting History of Indian Cricket, then some of the most interesting facts of the cricket World and then, at last some of the most amazing (and shameful) records claimed by some of the cricketers !!!

This post is going to be a boon for the ones who love the sport !!!

You are here as the love for cricket took you here … I want you to share this post to all your cricket-loving kinsmen … And I am sure that you would have at least one person with whom you discuss the world cups and the test series… Am I Right ??

The Awesome History of Indian Cricket !!!

The most popular Indian pastime- no, not street food, not Bollywood, not bargaining…definitely not eve-teasing!

We’re speaking of the most thrilling pastime of it all… Indian Cricket!

Cricket

The Initiation

Although we like to think that it began with Gilli-danda, most Historians agree that cricket… as we know it, came to India with English sailors in the 1700s.

gilli danda
if you don’t know Gilli-Danda… Here it is !!!
Image Credit — iSpark

Of course, English,or rather, East India Company, were in India for… trade.

Since the English played the game, all the important English spots- Calcutta, Madras and Bombay became cricketing zones.

Cricket clubs started getting formed all over the country. But the clubs were all-white clubs with a bunch of English playing against each other.

Then slowly the wealthy Indians started playing the game.

The Rise of Cricket

See… Whatever the English did was cool back then, so if they played cricket, so would the other cool folks in India.

The first to play with the English were the Parsis.

The first Parsi cricket team
The first Parsi cricket team
Image credit — CricketCountry.com

They also became the first Indians to tour England.

The Parsis and English were having regular tournaments in Bombay.

The Rise of The Bombay Clubs

Not to be outdone… The Hindu Maharajahs started forming their own teams.

A Hindu cricketing club, “Bombay Union”, was formed in…Bombay.

So now we had a triangular series in Bombay…. Hindu cricketers sorted themselves on the lines of caste and region of origin.

Now, of course… Muslims too wanted to compete, making it the Bombay Quadrangular series.

But even then, many sections of Indians wereleft out in this communal cricket. So all the others joined as a group called “The Rest”.

Thus we had the Bombay Pentangular series!

The Uprising

See, cricket had a lot of drama even before IPL!

Gradually some Europeans started touring India.

Popularity of the game grew.

Meanwhile two Indians… Ranjitsinghji and Duleepsinhji were proving themselves to be cricketers of great merit in England. Now both of these wonderful cricketers played for England.

Duleepsinhji(Left) & Ranjitsinghji(Right) — — Image Credit — Wikimedia Commons & Wikipedia

Then, in 1932, led by C.K. Nayudu,India made its test debut in England.

But from there till around 1950s, we were still considered a “weak” team.

The Growth

Although domestically, we were gearing up for better days- BCCI was formed, Ranji trophy was started.

1952 saw two landmark victories for us…. 1st test victory against England and 1st series victory against Pakistan.

In the coming years, we were considered a force to be reckoned with on home territory.

We had legends like Tiger Pataudi, Bishan Singh Bedi, EAS Prasanna, Gundappa Viswanathand many others.

Tiger Pataudi(1), Bishan Singh Bedi(2), EAS Prasanna(3), Gundappa Viswanathand(4)

In the 1970s globally cricket was transitioning from test matches to One Day cricket. And we were finding it a bit tough to go with the new trend.

This too was about to change.

The Rise of New Gen !!!

1980s brought Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, KrisSrikkanth, Madan Lal and a wave of cricketing masters we worship today.

Kapil Dev(1), Sunil Gavaskar(2), Ravi Shastri(3), KrisSrikkanth(4), Madan Lal(5)

India was becoming good at the game.

Still, in 1983, West Indies were the thought to be the best team.

We were nowhere close.

So just imagine the thrill when Kapil and team lifted the world cup defeating the mighty West Indies!

It was the most spectacular,most memorable event ever.

The whole nationwent bonkers!

Cricket in India had finally arrived.

And the rest, as they say, is an oft repeated and treasured History!

Some of The Most Fascinating Facts About Cricket !!!

The world of cricket is full of some of the most interesting things and coincidences !!! The below-given facts will really amaze you

The fastest century scored by Afridi… But with Sachin behind it !!!

This is the first fact of this awesome list and it is gonna really blow up your mind ….

Shahid Afridi was called to play for Pakistan from west indies in 1996.

But, he was not having a proper bat to play with … So Waqar Younios gave him a bat.

And surprisingly.. The bat was of Sachin Tendulkar !!!

Image Source — India Times

And with this bat, Afridi scored 11 sixes and 6 fours and scored away a century in just 37 balls against Sri Lanka which remain a world record until Corey Anderson scored a century in just 36 balls !!!

The Shameful Over !!!

What can you expect as the highest runs in an over ???

Of course… 36 … Right ??? But the world of cricket is full of surprises …

Now let me tell you…

The highest runs scored in an over is 77 runs !!!

You might have died by listening this .. But it is a true fact !!!

Image Source: crictracker

Bert Vance of Wellington cricket team, New Zealand gave 77 runs in an over in a first-class match against Canterbury on February 20, 1990.

Now that is a very shameful moment !!! What do you think about this …. Enter your thoughts in the comment section !!!

India is the Champ !!!

India is the only country to have won 60-over, 50-over and 20-over world cup !!!!

Image credit — India Today
  • The 1983 world cup with 60-over per inning was won by India under the captaincy of Kapil Dev
  • Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team India championed the glory again in 2011 which was a 50-over tournament
  • In 2007, the country under M.S. Dhoni’s captaincy won the 20-over World Cup

#ProudToBeAnIndian

Sachin’s Test Avg, is less than Vinod Kambli

I am not kidding… Vinod Kambli has a higher test average than Sachin.

Image Source: India tv news

The 54.2 test match average of Vinod Kambli is greater than the test average of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who lags behind with an average of 53.78.

A Player played for both India and England !!!

Saif Ali Khan’s grandfather, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi played test cricket for both India and England

Image Source: Wikipedia

He was the eighth Nawab of Pataudi and also the captain of the Indian national cricket team for the tour to England in 1946 and has also played test series for England in 1932 and 1934 that makes him the sole player to play test cricket for two countries.

6 Sixes in an Over !!!

This is a challenge and a proud moment when it comes to the gully cricket.

When thgis happens.. The bowler gains a lot of shame and the batsmen gains appreciation and fame…

But these thing also happens at greater places….

The first Indian to hit 6 sixes in an over is Ravi Shastri !!!

Image Source: Kreedon

Ravi Shastri while playing for Bombay against Baroda scored 36 runs in 6 balls. This record was again touched by Yuvraj Singh in 2007 in World T20 tournament.

Also read — The 20 Most bizarre and Amazing Food Facts

A matter of Great proud

Image Source: Sportskeeda

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in their entire Test careers have been stumped out only once

Side Changed !!!

Sachin Tendulkar has played for Pakistan in a practice match!

Image Source: Sportskeeda

I know this one would have brought you on pins and needles but that’s true. It was in 1987 during a practice match when Sachin fielded for Pakistan as a substitute.

Proud Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly won four consecutive Man-of-the-Match awards in a tournament against Pakistan

Image Source: Dinamani

He is the only cricketer in World who holds such a record. He has also been declared “The Man of The Series” in that ODI series played in Toronto.

The “1” Coincidence !!!!

Image Source: Indiatimes

On 11th date of 11th month of 2011, South Africa chased 111 runs and defeated Australia at 11:11 pm!!!!

3 Awards in one year !!!

Virat Kohli is the first cricketer who has been awarded the top three ICC awards in a single year

Image Source: Twitter

The ever-charming Indian Cricket Team Captain — Virat Kohli bagged the prestigious Cricketer of the year, Test cricketer of the year and ODI cricketer of the year awards in 2018 — all in a single year.

Kohli Be Like !!!

Sources

The Most Amazing records In the Cricket World !!!

Records are meant to be broken and the people in this list are waiting for somebody to beat the records !!!

Should He Feel Proud or Shame ???

This record is … A shameful record made by Sanath Jaysuria ….

The Sri Lankan record-breaking batting legend- Sanath Jaysuria holds the record of maximum ducks in ODIs for a batsman…

That is a total of 34 ducks including 10 golden ducks !!!

Bowled Out !!!

Rahul Dravid, also known as the wall….

Very ironically, he holds this very embarrassing record of getting bowld the most number of times in Test matches !!!

He has been bowled out 55 times !!!

Plays the Match… But No catch !!!

Muhammad Amir has the dubious record of the most number of Test matches taken for his first catch.

In Test cricket… He took his first catch in his 20th Test match 7 years after his debut

No Balls but More Runs !!!

At 4th position we have the Pakistani left arm spinner Abdul Rahman !!!

Image credit — India Today

He registered bowling figures of 0 overs… 0 maidens and eight runs and zero wickets against Bangladesh in Asia Cup 2014.

He holds the record for giving away the most runs in an international match across formats without bowling a single legal delivery !!!

On Which Side Is He Playin For ???

Talking about the most runs given…

South African spinner Imran Tahir bowled 37 overs for 260 runs without picking up a single wicket in the 2012 Adelaide Test against Australia.

Giving him the record for the worst bowling figures in Test match history !!!

Most run Outs !!!

This record is for Wasim Akram and fellow countryman Inzamam Ul Haq who have jointly hold the record for the maximum run outs in their career in ODI

That is 38 run outs each!!!

Slow Blow !!!

Legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar played one of the slowest ODI knocks…

As he carried his back through the innings to score an unbelievable 36 runs of 174 balls with just one single fall in the first ever World Cup game !!!

Image credit — Hindustan Times

Just for a little perspective… Rohit Sharma hit the highest ODI score of 264 runs in 173 balls !!!

One ball lesser than Sunil Gavaskar took to reach his 36 !!!

Risk Ahead !!

Aussie ML Lewis has bowled the most expensive 10 overs in ODI history against South Africa in the famous Johannesburg encounter !!!

Where the Proteasone by one wicket chasing 434 he conceded 113 runs in 10 overs !!!

So Much Shame

In 24 hours… Umar Akmal got dismissed thrice in the last match of Pakistan vs. England t20 series…

Akmal couldn’t do much with the bat…

He scored 4 from 9 balls but as fate would have it the game ended in a draw so a super over was played Akmal was sent again to bat and again he was dismissed cheaply !!!

This could have been the end of the day for him had he not taken a flight to Bangladesh to play for BPL…

He was playing for Chittagong Vikings against ranked Bull Riders…

He scored just one run from seven deliveries when he was given out !!!

So in 24 hours he gave three unforgettable performances and got out three times !!!

So these were some of the interesting amazing and … shameful records that were claimed by some cricketers !!!

Conclusion

So let me take a leave from you all

Till then…

Share this post to all your friends and subscribe to our site and click that red notification bell to ensure that you never miss any of our post and also you get our daily dose of awesomeness !!!

Jai Bharat !!! Jai Hind !!!

Read original post at https://infiniteknowledge.in/all-the-awesome-things-about-cricket/?_unique_id=601eded042c18 #amazing #cricket #india #interesting #interesting_facts #records #sports #sports #entertainment #fun_corner #history #interesting_facts