5 Things about Indian cricket which people didn't know

1. Longest name of a team in first-class cricket

A team from India holds the record for the longest name in the history of first-class cricket – Maharashtra Small Savings Minister’s and Life Insurance Company’s Chairman’s Combined XI. This team from Maharashtra featured in the Defence Fund Match during the 1965-66 season. They faced Indian Board President’s XI team in the match hosted by the Club of Maharashtra ground in Poona. They were led by Vijay Manjrekar and had the likes of BS Chandrasekhar and S Venkataraghavan in their side.

The lengthy named team from Maharashtra played under the captaincy of Bapu Nadkarni and were a superior team on the paper. They were blessed with the presence of Ajit Wadekar, ML Jaisimha, EAS Prasanna and other prominent names. It helped them to gain a 47-run first-innings lead even though they were bowled out for only 220 on the first day. The home team declared their 2nd innings at 243/9 on the final morning to set a target of 291.

The Indian BP’s XI fought hard in the chase as the No.3 batsman Abbas Ali Baig smashed 147 but were bowled out for 255 and lost the game by 45 runs. The match stands in FC history as Sadanand Mohol became the first player to claim four wickets in four successive deliveries for the Board President’s XI. The pacer from Maharashtra achieved this feat on the very first day by dismissing Ajit Wadekar, Sudhakar Adhikari, Madhukar Gupte and ML Jaisimha.