5 states that have contributed the most Indian ODI internationals
In a country of over a billion people, it is tough to be among the ‘Top 11’ of the country in any field. In cricket, the fight for every place in the eleven is much bigger and tougher than in any other sport in India. With thousands of youngsters aspiring to be cricketers, to break into the Indian team is no less than a miracle.
Every sport has dominance from the players of a few states. In football, players from the north-east dominate the eleven, badminton has more representation from Andhra and Haryana leads the way in wrestling. Is it so even in the case of cricket?
In this article, we take a look at the five states which have contributed the most number of one-day international players to the Indian team.
Maharashtra
The state of Maharashtra maintains its supremacy over everyone else and has contributed well over 20% (46) of the total number of players who have ever played one-day internationals (216) for India. However, the fact isn’t surprising if seen in the light of the history of the game in the country; cricket was first played in the city of Mumbai by the Parsis and Hindus alongside the Europeans.
The game of cricket then moved to other princely states and further beyond. Therefore, post-independence, most of the cricketers of the Indian team came from Maharashtra and more precisely, Bombay. From the days of India’s first ever ODI against England at Leeds in 1974, where five players out of the playing 11 were from Maharashtra, the state has constantly thrown up world class players.
From Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar to the modern duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, Maharashtra has never been short of noteworthy cricketers.