Cricket is one of the most popular sports in India. It is played between two teams of 11 players each. At the center of the field there is a 22 yard pitch with a wicket on each end, having two bails balanced on the three stumps. The main objective of the game is to score more runs than the opposing team. There are two innings and each team gets an opportunity to bat and bowl.

Originating from south-east England, the sport established itself globally during the 19th and 20th century. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is responsible for governing and administering the game. At present, 108 countries are members of ICC, 12 of them being Full members.

How is the game played?

At the beginning of the game, a toss decides the fielding and batting team for the first innings. All the players of the fielding team are present on ground, with a wicketkeeper behind the stumps. A bowler bowls the ball from one end of the pitch, with the aim of taking a wicket, while conceding minimum possible runs. The bowler needs to be changed after every over, which consists of 6 legal deliveries. The total number of overs in a match varies according to the format. T20 consists of 20 overs and the game lasts around 3 hours, an ODI has 50 overs which lasts around 8 hours and Test matches are played over a period of 5 days.
The batting side has two players on the field, if one of the players loses their wicket, the next player takes their place. An innings ends with either the required number of overs being bowled or 10 players of the batting side losing their wickets.

A batter can score runs either by running across the pitch or hitting the ball across the boundary, for either a four (if the ball touches the ground before reaching the boundary) or a six (if the ball reaches the boundary without touching the ground).

The following are certain other ways through which runs are awarded to the batting side:

• No Ball: A ball can be declared as a no ball for many reasons, such as when no part of the bowler’s foot is behind the crease or if the ball is bowled as a full toss above the waist of the batter. It is not counted as a legal delivery and the batting team gains a run. The batter can score runs off the no ball but cannot get out from it.
• Wide Ball: If the delivery is too wide or high for the batter to hit a normal cricketing shot.
• Bye: When runs are scored without the bat hitting the ball.
• Leg Bye: When runs are scored with the ball hitting the batter instead of the bat.

A batter is declared out if :

• The bowler is able to hit the stumps (Bowled)
• The batter’s shot is caught before it touches the ground (Catch out/ Caught)
• The ball hits the batter’s leg in front of the wicket (LBW)
• The fielding team hits the wicket before the batter reaches the end of the pitch (run out)
• The batter is out of the crease, not attempting a run and the wicketkeeper puts down the wicket (Stumped)

There are two umpires on the field and a third umpire, who makes the decision on the basis of slow-motion replays, in case of reviews, the decision of the third umpire is final.

Cricket in India

In India, cricket is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), it conducts all the domestic tournaments and selects the players for international tournaments. Some popular domestic competitions in India are mentioned below:

Ranji Trophy
Duleep Trophy
Vijay Hazare Trophy
Deodhar Trophy

The Indian premier league is considered to be the biggest cricketing league in the world.

Indian Men’s Cricket Team

The Indian men’s cricket team has won some major ICC tournaments, these are:

• Cricket World Cup (1983 and 2011)
• T20 World Cup (2007)
• Champions Trophy (2002 and 2013)

They have also won the 1985 World Championship and are a seven time winner of the Asia Cup. Currently (as of August 2022), the Indian men’s team is ranked first in T20I, second in Tests and third in ODIs as per the ICC rankings.

Indian Women’s Cricket Team

They made their Test debut in the year 1976, followed by their ODI debut at the 1978 World Cup. The team reached the ODI World Cup final on two occasions, first in 2007 and second in 2017, where it lost to England by just 9 runs. After making their T20I debut in 2006, the team managed to reach the semi-finals in 2009, 2010 and 2018, before reaching the finals in 2020. Except for 2018, the team has won all the editions of the Asia Cup. The Indian women’s team managed to win the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. As of August 2022, the team ranks fourth in both ODI and T20I format as per the ICC rankings.