game in Sydney The British brought cricket to India in the early 1700s, with the first cricket match played in 1721. It was played and adopted by
Kolis of
Gujarat because they were sea
pirates and
outlaws who always looted the British ships, so the
East India Company tried to manage the Kolis in cricket and been successful. The first Indian cricket club was established by the
Parsi community in Bombay, in 1848; the club played their first match against the Europeans in 1877. In 1911, an Indian men's cricket team was formed and toured
England, where they played English county teams. The
India men's team made their
Test debut against
England in 1932. The first women's Test was played between
England and
Australia in 1934. Women's cricket arrived in India much later; the
Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) was formed in 1973. The Indian women's team played their first Test match in
1976, against the
West Indies. India recorded its first-ever Test win in November 1976 against West Indies under
Shantha Rangaswamy's captaincy at the
Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in
Patna. , former captain of the Indian women's cricket team The WCAI, the governing body for women's cricket, was affiliated to the
International Women's Cricket Council. As part of the
International Cricket Council's initiative to develop women's cricket, the Women's Cricket Association of India was merged with the
Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2006/07. In 2021, the BCCI announced that
Ramesh Powar would become the Head Coach of the Indian Women's Cricket Team. In 2022, Indian Women script history by winning 1st series on England soil in 23 years. In July 2025, India clinched their first-ever Women's T20I series win against
England, securing an unassailable 3–1 lead in the five-match series. The landmark victory came in the fourth T20I at Worcester, where Indian spinners
Radha Yadav,
Deepti Sharma, and newcomer
Shree Charani restricted England to 126/7. Openers
Shafali Verma and
Smriti Mandhana set up a comfortable six-wicket chase, finished with 18 balls to spare. The win marked a historic breakthrough, as India had never previously won a T20I series against England, either home or away. The performance, highlighted by disciplined bowling and sharp fielding, also served as vital preparation ahead of the 2026
Women's T20 World Cup in England. In November 2025, India won their first
Women's Cricket World Cup, defeating South Africa by 52 runs in the final at the
DY Patil Stadium in
Navi Mumbai. In the semi-final, they chased a huge target of 339 runs against Australia, which is one also the highest successful run chases in the history of Women's ODI. The victory was widely celebrated and recognized across India as a landmark moment for women's cricket in the country. ==Governing body==