48 Fun Facts About Indian Cricket

Which two-time defending champion did India dismiss for 140 in the 1983 World Cup final at Lord's?

West Indies had won the first two World Cups and needed only 184, yet were bowled out for 140 in 52 overs, a 43-run defeat still ranked among cricket's great upsets.

Whose unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup came after India had collapsed to 17 for 5?

Kapil Dev's innings saved a side that looked to be going out of the World Cup, and India went on to lift the trophy at Lord's.

Which India captain is the only one to win the World T20, the 50-over World Cup and the Champions Trophy?

MS Dhoni lifted the 2007 World T20, the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy, and in the 2011 final he promoted himself up the order and finished unbeaten on 91.

Which Indian hit six sixes in one over off Stuart Broad at the 2007 World T20 in Durban?

Yuvraj Singh's victim, Stuart Broad, recovered from that over to take more than 600 Test wickets for England.

Which opener's 264 at Kolkata in 2014 set the men's ODI record score?

Rohit Sharma was returning from a finger injury, and he made his 264 off 173 balls.

Who scored a record 50th ODI century in the 2023 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand?

Virat Kohli passed Sachin Tendulkar's 49 ODI hundreds, but four days later India's unbeaten run ended with defeat by Australia in the final.

Who became the first Indian to score a Test triple century, with 309 against Pakistan at Multan?

Virender Sehwag's 309 came in an innings India declared at 675 for 5, leaving Sachin Tendulkar stranded on 194 not out.

Which opener was the first batter to reach 10,000 Test runs, doing so against Pakistan in 1987?

Sunil Gavaskar's debut series in the Caribbean in 1971 inspired the calypso singer Lord Relator to write a song in his honour.

Which leg-spinner took all ten Pakistan wickets in a Test innings at Delhi in 1999?

Anil Kumble's 10 for 74 made him only the second bowler after Jim Laker to take all ten, and three years later he bowled in Antigua with a fractured jaw and dismissed Brian Lara.

Whose 281 at Kolkata in 2001 won a Test after India had followed on, ending Australia's 16-match streak?

VVS Laxman broke India's long-standing Test record score of 236 not out and shared a 376-run stand that lasted the entire fourth day.

Which Pakistan batter was caught scooping to short fine leg to end the 2007 World T20 final?

Misbah-ul-Haq had made 43 off 38 balls to drag Pakistan within reach, and India's five-run win made them the first World Twenty20 champions.

India's tied 2007 World T20 group match against Pakistan in Durban was settled by which tie-breaker?

Bowl-out: three Indian bowlers hit the unguarded stumps while all three Pakistan bowlers missed, so India won it 3–0.

Which franchise, the cheapest buy in the 2008 auction, won the first IPL?

Rajasthan Royals won the final off the very last ball, when Sohail Tanvir struck the winning run.

Which New Zealander hit 158 not out for Kolkata Knight Riders in the very first IPL match in 2008?

Brendon McCullum faced just 73 balls for what was then the highest Twenty20 score ever, and Kolkata won the opening match by 140 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Which IPL franchise was suspended for 2016 and 2017 over a betting scandal, then won the title on its return?

Chennai Super Kings were banned because team official Gurunath Meiyappan was found to have bet on IPL matches, and on their return Cauvery protests pushed their home games to Pune.

Which city's Narendra Modi Stadium is the world's largest cricket ground?

Ahmedabad's rebuilt stadium drew over 100,000 people to a rally for Donald Trump in February 2020, a year before it was renamed for Narendra Modi.

Which ground's 1996 World Cup semi-final was awarded to Sri Lanka after rioting fans halted play?

Eden Gardens erupted with India 120 for 8 and heading for defeat, and after a failed restart match referee Clive Lloyd handed Sri Lanka the game.

The second tied Test in history, between India and Australia in 1986, was played in which city?

Madras's Chepauk ground saw Dean Jones make 210 and India's last man fall lbw with one run needed, only the second tie in more than a century of Tests.

Which ground hosted the rain-shortened 2013 Champions Trophy final that India won by five runs?

Edgbaston's final, cut to 20 overs a side by rain, came down to England needing six off the last ball, and James Tredwell missed it.

In which city did India play the whole 2025 Champions Trophy, beating New Zealand in the final?

Dubai staged every India game because the team would not travel to host nation Pakistan, and India chased 252 in the final with four wickets to spare.

Whose 137 for Australia in the 2023 World Cup final ended India's unbeaten run through the tournament?

Travis Head fell just short of finishing the chase, so Glenn Maxwell hit the winning runs as Australia took a sixth World Cup.

Against which side did India record its first World Cup victory, by ten wickets at Headingley in 1975?

East Africa, a combined team drawn from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia, was India's only victim that year; the other two group games were lost to England and New Zealand.

Which Indian captain retired in 2022 as the leading run-scorer in all women's international cricket?

Mithali Raj played in India's World Cup final defeats in 2005 and 2017, and retired three years before India finally won the title in 2025.

Which seamer, the first woman to 200 ODI wickets, bowled her last international at Lord's in 2022?

Jhulan Goswami finished with 255 wickets from 204 ODIs, the most in the women's game, and India marked her farewell with a 16-run win over England.

Who hit 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 Women's World Cup semi-final at Derby?

Harmanpreet Kaur's 115-ball assault took India into the final, and eight years later she captained India to its first Women's World Cup title.

Which team did India beat by 52 runs in the 2025 Women's World Cup final to win a first world title?

South Africa lost as Shafali Verma, left out of India's original squad and brought in for the injured Pratika Rawal, was named player of the final.

Who was named man of the match in both the semi-final and the final of the 1983 World Cup?

Mohinder Amarnath finished with 3 for 12 in the final, ending it by trapping Michael Holding lbw.

Which future Test batter shared an unbroken 664-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar in a school match?

Vinod Kambli's Test career lasted only 17 matches, while Sachin Tendulkar went on to play 200.

Which India captain made centuries in his first three Tests and was later banned for life over match-fixing?

Mohammad Azharuddin's 2000 life ban followed a CBI report, and a high court overturned it in 2012, long after his playing days were over.

Whose unbeaten 89 at the Gabba in 2021 chased down 328 and sealed India's Test series win in Australia?

Rishabh Pant's chase broke into Australia's Gabba fortress and sealed a 2–1 series win, a month after India had been bowled out for 36.

After India were bowled out for 36 at Adelaide in 2020, who captained them to victory in the next Test?

Ajinkya Rahane stood in after the captain went home on paternity leave, and his hundred at Melbourne won the next Test.

Whose 269 in England in 2025 set up India's 336-run Test win?

Shubman Gill's India had lost the opening Test at Headingley, and that win levelled the series.

Who captained India to its first Test win, over England in 1952, in the 25th Test the country had played?

Vijay Hazare's side won after the death of King George VI was announced on the first day, turning the second day into a rest day.

Who captained India in its first ever Test match, against England at Lord's in 1932?

C. K. Nayudu's hundred with 11 sixes against the touring MCC in 1926–27 is said to have helped earn India that first Test.

Which captain led India to its first Test series wins in the Caribbean and in England, both in 1971?

Ajit Wadekar's side drew at Lord's and Old Trafford, then won at The Oval after trailing by 71 on first innings.

Which leg-spinner, bowling with an arm withered by polio, took 6 for 38 at The Oval in 1971?

Bhagwath Chandrasekhar's spell bowled England out for 101 and set up India's first Test win in England.

Whose run-out of Australia's Bill Brown at the non-striker's end in 1947 gave that dismissal its nickname?

Vinoo Mankad was attacked in the Australian press, which coined the term 'Mankading', yet Don Bradman defended him as scrupulously fair.

India's first-class championship is named after which prince, who played Test cricket for England from 1896?

Ranjitsinhji ruled Nawanagar as its Maharaja and never played for India, which did not play a Test until 1932, the year before he died.

Which team has won India's domestic first-class championship more than 40 times, far more than any other side?

Mumbai, which competed as Bombay until the city was renamed in 1995, has a tally of titles no other side comes close to matching.

Who took the boundary catch that removed David Miller in the last over of the 2024 T20 World Cup final?

Suryakumar Yadav tossed the ball into the air before going over the rope, then came back into the field to complete the catch.

Which India batter retired from Tests in 2012 having faced more balls than anyone in Test history?

Rahul Dravid coached India to the 2024 T20 World Cup title, 17 years after captaining them to a group-stage exit at the 2007 World Cup.

Which India captain whirled his shirt on the Lord's balcony after the 2002 NatWest Series final win?

Sourav Ganguly said he was mimicking Andrew Flintoff, who had taken off his shirt to celebrate an England one-day win during a tour of India.

Which off-spinner took India's first Test hat-trick, against Australia at Kolkata in 2001?

Harbhajan Singh's hat-trick included Adam Gilchrist lbw first ball, and India, beaten by ten wickets in the first Test, went on to win the series.

Which Indian spinner equalled Muttiah Muralitharan's record of 11 Test player-of-the-series awards?

Ravichandran Ashwin retired abruptly midway through the 2024 series in Australia with 537 Test wickets, second among Indians.

Which fast bowler faced Stuart Broad's Test-record 35-run over in 2022?

Jasprit Bumrah was standing in as India's captain, yet England still won that Test by chasing 378.

Who top-scored with 97 in the 2011 World Cup final after India's openers fell early chasing 275?

Gautam Gambhir was bowled by Thisara Perera three short of a century, after a 109-run stand with the captain that set up India's six-wicket win.

Which seamer's 7 for 57 in the 2023 World Cup semi-final set India's ODI bowling record?

Mohammed Shami had been benched for India's first four matches of that World Cup, so the record came from a bowler India first left out.

Against which team did Sachin Tendulkar score his 100th international century in 2012?

Bangladesh still won that Asia Cup match at Mirpur by five wickets, despite Sachin Tendulkar's 114.