Services cricket team
Services cricket team: competitions
Services cricket team: First-Class Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins Years
Ranji Trophy
0
Services cricket team: Limited Overs Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins Years
Vijay Hazare Trophy
0
Services cricket team: Twenty20 Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins Years
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
0
Services cricket team: Indian cricket team
Indian Cricket Club Services first played at the professional level in 1959. The team represents the Indian Armed Forces. The team is based in the capital of India – New Delhi. Today, the Services cricket team plays at 3 famous tournaments: Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Home matches are played at the Palam A Stadium. The Indian Air Force owns the sports ground. In 2021, the team’s highest achievements were considered to be reaching the finals in 1957 and 1958. In this article, we briefly introduce you to the team’s history.
Services cricket team – general information
The Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) is a national sports board run by the Indian Armed Forces. In 1919, it was called the Council for the Control of Army Sports, and then it was renamed to the modern name. The company is headquartered in New Delhi.
SSCB is a full member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Thanks to this, the Council has the right to field a cricket club in domestic professional cricket tournaments. So, in 1949, the Services cricket team debuted at the first-class Ranji Trophy championship.
Season 1 was unsuccessful. The club lost in the 1st match to Southern Punjab (today, it is simply called Punjab). The team was already rehabilitated in the next playing season. The club won 3 games in a row and made it to the semifinals of the tournament! However, in the semifinal round, everything ended.
The 1956-1957 season turned out to be a truly successful performance:
- Being in the North Zone, the club won in the 1st round against the former club Patiala;
- In the 2nd round, the Services cricket team dealt with the Delhi cricket team;
- According to the draw results, the team passed the 1/4 finals stage and played its 3rd match in the semifinal stage against the Bengal cricket team. The club coped with its task – it won the game;
- In the decisive meeting, the rival of the players from Services was the Bombay cricket team (today, the Mumbai cricket team). Unfortunately, the army club lost the final match.
The same situation happened the next season. The club won all group matches and advanced to the final round, where it lost to the Boroda cricket team with a difference of 51 runs.
To fans’ great disappointment, the club has not seen any further exits to the finals today. Over the past 8 years, the team’s best achievement is considered to be reaching the playoffs in 2013. Then the team won in the 1/4 finals against the Uttar Pradesh cricket team and already in the semifinals, lost to the future champion – the Mumbai cricket team.
Services cricket team – results of other tournaments
In 1993, another professional cricket tournament, the Ranji One Day Trophy, began to take place in India. This championship is held in a format with a limited number of overs (matches take place in one day, and two innings of 40-60 overs are played). For the first 9 years, the championship was held without a playoff stage. In 2002, the championship changed its name to the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In addition, the championship has an elimination round.
Here, to date, the Services cricket team has not been able to show decent results. Over the past 5 seasons, the highest achievement of the players is the 3rd place in Group C in the 2018-2019 season. In 2021, the season was held in a short format, where the club, playing in Group E, took 3rd place out of 6.
In addition to the Vijay Hazare Trophy, another tournament was formed in 2006 – the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The games are held even faster than in the 2nd championship. 2 innings of 20 overs each are played. Unfortunately, the club has not seen any significant achievements here either. In the extreme season (2020-2021), the club played in Group D, where in 5 matches, it won only one game over the Vidarbha cricket team. As a result, the team took the penultimate 5th place.
Now the following recognizable players play for the team:
- Rajat Pailwal;
- Arjin Sharma;
- Pulkit Narang;
- Varun Choudhary;
- Nakul Verma.
Obviously, the most critical problem of the team is the realization of various sporting moments. We hope that in the near future, we will see the 1st victorious final with the participation of the Services cricket team.
