The Madhya Pradesh cricket team is a domestic cricket team based in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is in the Plate and in elite Group of the Ranji Trophy.
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A Central India team competed in the Ranji Trophy between 1934–35 and 1939-40. In 1941, Holkar entered the competition, organised and managed by King Yashwantrao of Holkar. In the fourteen years of its existence Holkar, which included such players as C. K. Nayudu and Mushtaq Ali, won the title four times and finished second on six other occasions.
Madhya Pradesh began competing as a team from 1950-51. Holkar appeared in the Ranji Trophy till 1954-55 after which it was dissolved and replaced by a Madhya Bharat team. This became part of the Madhya Pradesh team after two years as the states were reorganised.
The finest achievement of the Madhya Pradesh team is reaching the final of the Ranji Trophy in 1998-99. They took the first innings lead against Karnataka and needed only a draw to win the title but collapsed in the final session of the last day to lose with five overs to spare.[1]
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
| 1998-99 | Runner-up |
| 1954-55 | Runner-up |
| 1953-54 | Runner-up |
| 1952-53 | Winner |
| 1951-52 | Runner-up |
| 1950-51 | Winner |
| 1949-50 | Runner-up |
| 1947-48 | Winner |
| 1946-47 | Runner-up |
| 1945-46 | Winner |
| 1944-45 | Runner-up |
| 1947-48 | Winner |
Mushtaq Ali and Hiralal Gaekwad played for Madhya Pradesh in the early years after Holkar ceased to exist. Three other players who were predominantly Madhya Pradesh cricketers have represented India in Test cricket. Off-spinner Chandu Sarwate represented India nine times between 1946 and 1951-52. He played for Madhya Pradesh between 1958–59 and 1967–68, but the Test appearances had come during his time with Holkar. Rajesh Chauhan took 47 wickets for India in his 21 appearances and played a significant role in India's home victories in the 1990s. Narendra Hirwani, who was originally from Uttar Pradesh, spent twenty years in the Madhya Pradesh team and took more than four hundred first class wickets for them.
Amay Khurasiya made a few appearances for the Indian one day side at the turn of the 2000s. Sandeep Patil and Chandrakant Pandit, professional cricketers from Bombay, captained the team between 1988 and 2001. It was under Pandit that MP reached the 1999 final.
Naman Ojha made his ODI debut on 5 June 2010 vs Sri Lanka. He got out scoring only 1 run in that game and has not played for India since then.
| Indian first class cricket teams in the Ranji Trophy |
|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | Assam | Baroda | Bengal | Delhi | Goa | Gujarat | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Hyderabad | Jammu and Kashmir | Jharkhand | Karnataka | Kerala | Madhya Pradesh | Maharashtra | Mumbai | Orissa | Punjab | Railways | Rajasthan | Saurashtra | Services | Tamil Nadu | Tripura | Uttar Pradesh | Vidarbha |