Tripura cricket team

History

Cricket developed later in Tripura than in most other parts of India. Competitions were first organized in the early 1960s, and the Tripura Cricket Association was formed in 1968.

Tripura entered the Ranji Trophy, along with Goa and Himachal Pradesh, when the competition was expanded for the 1985–86 season. They have always been one of the weaker sides in the competition. Up to the end of the 2022–23 season, they had played 193 first-class matches resulting in nine wins, 120 losses and 64 draws. In List A cricket they had played 138 matches resulting in 26 wins, 111 losses and one no-result.

In 1985–86, fielding a team with no previous first-class experience, Tripura lost all four matches, the first three by an innings. In 1986–87 they drew their first match and lost the next three, two of them by an innings. The pattern continued. In 2001–02, their last season playing only against their East Zone neighbours – Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Orissa – Tripura lost two matches by an innings and drew the other two.

The Ranji Trophy was restructured for the 2002–03 season, and the lower-ranked teams from around India began to play each other. Tripura's fortunes improved only slightly at first. They registered two losses by an innings and three draws in 2002–03. In 2003–04 they drew all five matches, gaining a first-innings lead in two of them. In 2004–05 they lost three and drew two.

Tripura's first-class victories

Tripura won their first first-class victory in the 2005–06 season. Until then they had played 87 matches for 65 losses and 22 draws. In their last match of the season, after two draws and two losses, they played Himachal Pradesh at Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala, Tripura's main home ground. Their captain, Rajib Dutta, scored 32 and 71 not out in a low-scoring match in which no one else reached 50, and Tripura won by 130 runs. Vineet Jain, Tripura's opening bowler, took 2 for 20 and 7 for 29.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/84/84282.html

Since then Tripura have registered a victory in most seasons. In 2006–07, again at Agartala and captained by Dutta, they beat Jammu and Kashmir by 132 runs, Jain taking 4 for 40 and 5 for 40.{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/103/103785.html

After a season without a victory Tripura, captained by Ajay Ratra, beat Himachal Pradesh at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Nadaun in 2012–13 by 169 runs, Subhrajit Roy scoring 111 in the first innings. Manisankar Murasingh made 29 and 63 and took 4 for 86 and 1 for 34. Tripura's next victory came nearly four years later, when, in their most overwhelming victory to date, they beat Services by 219 runs in 2016–17 at Guwahati after declaring at 340 for 3 in their second innings. Udiyan Bose scored 165 and Smit Patel 127 not out, and the captain, Manisankar Murasingh, scored 22 in each innings and took three wickets in each innings.

In December 2018, during the sixth round of the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy, they beat Goa by 10 wickets. It was the first time that Tripura had won a match by 10 wickets and the first time they had earned a bonus point in the Ranji Trophy. Up to and including that fixture, they had played 171 first-class matches, winning only nine of them. However, in the following month, they were dismissed for 35 runs in their first innings against Rajasthan. It was their lowest total in first-class cricket.

Individual records

Tripura's highest first-class score is 212 by Yogesh Takawale against Hyderabad in 2013–14. The best bowling figures are 8 for 133 by Timir Chanda against Himachal Pradesh in 2011–12. In October 2016 Rana Dutta became the first bowler to take a hat-trick for Tripura.

Rajib Dutta played in Tripura's first five victories, captaining the side in four of them.

Home grounds

• Narsingarh Cricket Ground
• Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium
• Narsinghgarh International Cricket Stadium

Famous Players

• Sourav Dasgupta (1985-2002)
• Alok Saha (1985-2001)
• Rajib Deb Burman (1985-2000)
• Sujit Roy (1992-2006)
• Timir Chanda (1995-2013)
• Subal Chowdhury (1995-2011)
• Rajib Dutta (1999-2014)
• Tushar Saha (2000-2012)
• Rana Dutta (2008-present)
• Manisankar Murasingh (2009-present)
• Udiyan Bose (2013-present)

Players

Main article: List of Tripura cricketers

Squad

• Players with International Caps are listed in bold.

Updated as on 4 November 2025

References

References

1. "History of TCA". Tripura Cricket Association.
2. ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Wisden]]'' 1987, p. 1138.
3. "Tripura's first-class playing record". CricketArchive.
4. "Tripura's List A playing record". CricketArchive.
5. "Bengal v Tripura 1985–86". CricketArchive.
6. ''Wisden'' 1987, p. 1140.
7. ''Wisden'' 1988, p. 1100.
8. ''Wisden'' 2003, pp. 1491–92.
9. ''Wisden'' 2004, pp. 1384–85.
10. ''Wisden'' 2005, pp. 1461–62.
11. ''Wisden'' 2006, pp. 1345–46.
12. ''Wisden'' 2007, p. 1383.
13. "Tripura v Kerala 2007–08". CricketArchive.
14. "Services v Tripura 2008–09". CricketArchive.
15. "Tripura v Rajasthan 2009–10". CricketArchive.
16. "Goa v Tripura 2010–11". CricketArchive.
17. "Himachal Pradesh v Tripura 2012–13". CricketArchive.
18. "Services v Tripura 2016–17". CricketArchive.
19. "Race for quarter-finals hots up, Tripura make history". ESPN Cricinfo.
20. "Ranji Trophy Playing Record". Cricket Archive.
21. (7 January 2019). "Ranji Trophy: Rajasthan skittle Tripura for 35, their lowest total ever". Cricket Country.
22. [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/554/554662.html Hyderabad v Tripura 2013–14]
23. [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/347/347610.html Tripura v Himachal Pradesh 2011–12]
24. "Group C: Himachal Pradesh v Tripura at Kalyani, Oct 20–23, 2016". Cricinfo.