The International Cricket Council is reportedly viewing the IPL tournament as a dry run ahead of the men’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to take place in October and November 2021, which was postponed from 2020 and moved to India from Australia.
While the Indian Premier League was founded in 2007 and its inaugural season played in 2008, cricket has been played in India for approximately 300 years, having been introduced by the British during the expansion of the East India Company from the 17th to the 19th Century. The game was adopted by the Indian elites who formed alliances with the British, with Indians playing against British teams and ultimately forming leagues between local teams. The first definite reference to cricket being played anywhere in the sub-continent is a report of a match at Cambay near Baroda in 1721. The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club was founded sometime between 1780 and 1792 and this club’s match against Madras in 1864 has been suggested as the start of first-class cricket in the country.
