Services cricket team

Services cricket team
Personnel
Captain	Rajat Paliwal (FC) ; Mohit Ahlawat (LA & T20)
Owner	Services Sports Control Board
Team information
Founded	1926
Home ground	Palam A Stadium, Delhi
History
First-class debut	Marylebone Cricket Club; in 1926; at Lawrence Gardens, Lahore
Ranji Trophy wins	0
Vijay Hazare Trophy wins	0
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy wins	0
Official website	SSCB

The Services cricket team plays in the Ranji Trophy, the main domestic first-class cricket competition in India. Under the auspices of the Services Sports Control Board, they represent the Indian Armed Forces. Their home ground is the Palam A Stadium, Palam Air Force Base, New Delhi.

Records

The Services team first played in the Ranji Trophy in 1949–50. They played in the North Zone of the competition until 2001–02, and have played in the Plate Group and other lower-ranked groups since 2002–03, except for one season, where they played in the Elite Group, during 2005–06. Their strongest period was the 1950s: between 1950–51 and 1959–60 they reached the semi-finals six times and the final twice, losing to Bombay in 1956–57 by an innings,^[1] and to Baroda in 1957–58, also by an innings.^[2]

As of March 2026, Services had played 379 first-class matches, with 102 wins, 131 losses, and 146 draws; 33 of their victories have been over Jammu and Kashmir.^[3] Their highest first-class score is 250 not out by Yashpal Singh against Tripura in 2012–13.^[4] The best bowling figures are 8 for 27 by Amit Shukla against Haryana in 2025–26.^[5]

Services reached the semi-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the first time in the 2021–22 season. Their best finish in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was in the 2019–20 season, where they finished third in their group with 4 wins and 2 losses.

Services set the world record for the highest successful run chase in first-class cricket without losing a wicket when they chased 376 runs against Odisha in the group stage in the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy. It was also the second-highest successful fourth-innings run-chase in the history of the Ranji Trophy.^[6]^[7]

Honours

Ranji Trophy
- Runners-up (2): 1956–57, 1957–58

Notable players

Services players who have played Test cricket for India, along with year of Test debut:

Hemu Adhikari (1947)
Kanwar Rai Singh (1947) (primarily played for Southern Punjab)
Bal Dani (1952)
Chandrasekhar Gadkari (1953)
Narain Swamy (1955)
Surendra Nath (1958)
Apoorva Sengupta (1959)
V. M. Muddiah (1959)

Current squad

Name	Birth date	Birthplace	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batsmen
Rajat Paliwal	(1991-12-24) 24 December 1991	Sonepat, HR	Right-handed	Right-arm off-break	First-class & List A Captain
Ravi Chauhan	(1993-09-17) 17 September 1993	New Delhi, DL	Right-handed	Right-arm leg-break
Irfan Ali	(2000-12-30) 30 December 2000		Right-handed	Right-arm off-break
Vineet Dhankhar	(2004-05-03) 3 May 2004		Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
Shivam Kumar	(1999-09-27) 27 September 1999		Right-handed
Gaurav Kochar	(1992-09-17) 17 September 1992	Delhi, DL	Left-handed	Right-arm off-break
Sagar Dahiya	(2003-09-19) 19 September 2003	Sonipat, HR	Right-handed	Right-arm off-break
Vikas Hathwala	(1993-09-06) 6 September 1993	Delhi, DL	Left-handed	Left-arm medium
Harsh Vardhan	(2003-12-25) 25 December 2003	Bikaner, RJ	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
All-Rounders
Arjun Sharma	(1996-05-25) 25 May 1996	Jalandhar, PB	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
Nitin Tanwar	(1996-10-09) 9 October 1996	Delhi, DL	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
Abhishek Tiwari	(1988-12-07) 7 December 1988	Allahabad, UP	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Wicket-keepers
Nakul Sharma	(1993-09-25) 25 September 1993	Delhi, DL	Right-handed
Mohit Ahlawat	(1995-12-25) 25 December 1995	Delhi, DL	Right-handed		Twenty20 Captain
Spin Bowlers
Pulkit Narang	(1994-06-18) 18 June 1994	New Delhi, DL	Right-handed	Right-arm off break
Amit Shukla	(2002-12-28) 28 December 2002	Faizabad, UP	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
Vikas Yadav	(1996-07-20) 20 July 1996	Bharuch, GJ	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
Mohit Rathee	(1999-01-13) 13 January 1999	Rohtak, HR	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break
Pace Bowlers
Jayant Goyat	(2005-06-24) 24 June 2005		Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Mohit Jangra	(1999-09-27) 27 September 1999	Lokhimpur, AS	Left-handed	Left-arm medium
Amarjeet Singh	(2000-03-07) 7 March 2000	Olapur Gangour, BR	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Poonam Poonia	(1994-12-12) 12 December 1994	Sri Ganganagar, RJ	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Nitin Yadav	(1992-11-20) 20 November 1992	Delhi, DL	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Raj Bahadur	(1993-10-05) 5 October 1993	Allahabad, UP	Left-handed	Left-arm medium
Vishal Gaur	(2001-07-03) 3 July 2001	Meerut, UP	Left-handed	Left-arm medium

Updated as on 1 February 2026

References

^ "Services v Bombay 1956–57". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
^ "Baroda v Services 1957–58". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
^ "Playing Record (1949/50-2025/26)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
^ "Most Runs in an Innings for Services". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
^ "Most Wickets in an Innings for Services". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
^ "Ranji Trophy: Services record second-highest chase". Indian Express. 2 February 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
^ "Odisha vs Services, Elite, Group A at Cuttack, Ranji Trophy, Jan 30 2025". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2025.

External links

First-class matches played by Services

[1] "Services v Bombay 1956–57". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 February 2019.

[2] "Baroda v Services 1957–58". Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 February 2019.

[3] "Playing Record (1949/50-2025/26)". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 March 2026.

[4] "Most Runs in an Innings for Services". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 March 2026.

[5] "Most Wickets in an Innings for Services". CricketArchive. Retrieved 23 March 2026.

[6] "Ranji Trophy: Services record second-highest chase". Indian Express. 2 February 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2025.

[7] "Odisha vs Services, Elite, Group A at Cuttack, Ranji Trophy, Jan 30 2025". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2025.

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Ranji Trophy
Seasons	1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 ~~2020–21~~ 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Current teams	Andhra Arunachal Pradesh Assam Baroda Bengal Bihar Chandigarh Chhattisgarh Delhi Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Hyderabad Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Mumbai Nagaland Odisha Pondicherry Punjab Railways Rajasthan Saurashtra Services Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand Vidarbha
Former teams	Army Central Provinces and Berar Eastern Punjab Nawanagar Northern India Northern Punjab North West Frontier Province Patiala Sind Southern Punjab Travancore-Cochin Western India
Records	List of Ranji Trophy records Triple centuries Hat-tricks