India are the reigning One Day Asian and Twenty20 World Champions, winning the former in 2023 against Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo and the latter in 2024 against South Africa at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.

[19][20] India was invited to the International Cricket Council in 1926, and made their debut as a Test playing nation in England in 1932, led by CK Nayudu, who was considered the best Indian batsman at the time.

Australia men's cricket team won the five-match series 4–0, with Bradman tormenting the Indian bowling in his final Australian summer.

[42] During the 1980s, India developed a more attack-minded batting line-up with stroke makers such as the wristy Mohammad Azharuddin, Krishnamachari Srikanth, Dilip Vengsarkar and all-rounders Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri.

India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983, defeating the favourites and the two-time defending champions West Indies in the final at Lord's, owing to a strong bowling performance.

[48] After failing to reach the semi-finals at the 1999 Cricket World Cup, Tendulkar was again made captain, and had another poor run, losing 3–0 on a tour of Australia and then 2–0 at home to South Africa.

[49] The team was further damaged in 2000 when former captain Azharuddin and fellow batsman Ajay Jadeja were implicated in a match-fixing scandal and given life and five-year bans respectively.

[56] In 2002, India were joint-winners of the ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka and then went to the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, where they reached the final, only to be beaten by Australia.

[57] In September 2007, India won the first-ever ICC Men's T20 World Cup held in South Africa, beating Pakistan by five runs in the final.

[66] India defeated Pakistan in their first game of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy but lost to the same opponents in the final, the first time they had met at this stage of a tournament since 2007.

Meanwhile, the Indian men's cricket team secured a gold medal in 2022 Asian games due to higher seeding after the final against Afghanisthan was washed out.

However, the BCCI, with its influential financial position in the cricketing world, has often challenged the ICC's program and called for more series between India, Australia and England which are more likely to earn more revenue as opposed to tours with Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.

[90] On 7 January 2023, Sharma was again appointed as the chief selector along with Shiv Sunder Das, Subroto Banerjee, Salil Ankola, and Sridharan Sharath.

[91] On 17 February 2023, Sharma resigned from his post after a sting operation by a private news channel saw him make several loose comments on the Indian team with Shiv Sunder Das replacing him and acting as an interim chief selector.

In December 2005, Nike outbid its competitors Adidas and Reebok, and acquired the contract for five years which started in January 2006 ahead of Indian team's tour to Pakistan.

[102][103] In November 2022, MPL Sports decided to exit the deal before the end of their contract and hand over their rights to Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (KKCL).

[105][106] In February 2023, it was announced that Adidas will begin a five-year sponsorship deal in June 2023 ahead of ICC World Test Championship final, replacing KKCL.

The Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in Delhi was the first stadium to host a Test match after independence, a draw against the West Indies in 1948, the first of a five-Test series.

[142] The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk is also considered to be an important historical Indian cricket ground, established in the early 1900s, and it was the site of India's first Test victory.

Although he started with two centuries in his first series as captain, his captaincy period was turbulent and he lost the job following a disastrous tour of the West Indies in early 1989 and a stand-off with the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI).

[162] In December 2021, Sharma was also appointed as the new ODI captain of the Indian men's cricket team, replacing Kohli ahead of their away series against South Africa.

Sachin Tendulkar, who began playing for India as a 16-year-old in 1989 and has since become the most prolific run-scorer in the history of both Test and ODI cricket, holds a large number of national batting records.

[263] The Indian cricket team also holds the record sequence of 17 successful run-chases in ODIs,[264] which ended in a dramatic match against the West Indies in May 2006, which India lost by just one run.

[265] Tendulkar was the first batsman to score 200 runs (he was unbeaten on 200 from 147 deliveries including 25 fours and 3 sixes) in a single ODI innings, on 24 February 2010 against South Africa in Gwalior.

[266] On 8 December 2011, this achievement was eclipsed by compatriot Virender Sehwag, who scored 219 runs from 149 deliveries (25 fours and 7 sixes) versus the West Indies in Indore.

[267] On 13 November 2014 the record was broken by another Indian opening batsmen, Rohit Sharma, who scored 264 runs from 173 deliveries (33 fours and 9 sixes) against Sri Lanka in Kolkata, West Bengal.

For example, when India slid to defeat against Australia at Brabourne Stadium in 1969, fans began throwing stones and bottles onto the field as well as setting fire to the stands, before laying siege to the Australian dressing rooms.

[280] During the same tour, a stampede occurred at Eden Gardens when tickets were oversold and India fell to another loss; the Australian team bus was later stoned with bricks.

[281] In 1999, a riot occurred in a Test against Pakistan at Eden Gardens after a collision with Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar saw Sachin run out, forcing police to eject spectators and the game to be played in an empty stadium.In 2006, a string of low scores resulted in Tendulkar being booed by the Mumbai crowd when he got out against England.

[285] Similar treatment was handed to Sunil Gavaskar in the 1987 World Cup Semi Finals by crowds at Wankhede Stadium when he got bowled by Phillip DeFreitas.