Despite being Indian, I have never had a passion for the game of gentlemen known as cricket. Recently, I decided to re-connect with my “heritage” after the Indian cricket team was crowned the world champions at the 2011 Cricket World Cup. After a few really intense lectures and a couple of Bollywood movies, I think I finally get the dynamics of this sport which can range anywhere between 75 minutes and 4 hours in length.
There are three major game formats of cricket which share the same fundamental rules (but very different strategies). The first type of cricket is known as “Test Cricket.” This is the longest format of the sport and one game can consist of five days of play. Test cricket is normally played in a friendly game format between two teams of differing countries. The next type of cricket is called a ”One Day International.” This format is relatively shorter where a typical game involves about 10 hours of play. The international world cup in cricket is of this form due to its fair balance between skill and strategy. The newest and most popular form of cricket is T20 in which a complete game lasts 4 hours. This fast paced, action packed form of the sport is in its infancy given its inception in 2007. With the T20 Indian Premier League (IPL) being set up, the scenario of world cricket has changed. The IPL consists of players from all over the world in teams representing different parts of India fighting for the bragging rights of being best team in the league. Additionally, a T20 World Cup was also initiated by the International Cricketing Council (ICC) which has its main office in Dubai.
The rules to the sport are intricate and very specific; however, understanding the basic premise of the sport would provide extensive insight to the inner workings of the game. The setup of cricket consists of a ground which is about 300 meters in diameter. At the center of the pitch is a 22 yard long pitch which is devoid of grass. On either end of the pitch are three “stumps” which are wooden cylinders that are about1.5 inches in diameter and 28 inches long. The circumference of the ground is marked by a while line called “the boundary.”
Each team consists of eleven players. At any given time, there must be at least thirteen players on the field from both teams. Two of the players on the field that play on the cricket pitch are the batsmen. They stand in front of the stumps with a bat and are required to face the bowler. These batsmen are from the batting team while the opposing team is called the bowling team. It consists of a bowler who throws the ball towards one of the batsman. When a batsman is facing a bowler, it is necessary for him to protect the stumps because if the ball hits the stumps, the batsman is declared out (and replaced by the next player on the batting team’s roster). Additionally, if the batsman hits the ball, he can choose to pick up runs (which are the scoring mechanism in cricket) by switching positions with the other batsman to reach the other set of stumps. Each time they switch, the team accumulates one run. Additionally, if the batsman hits the ball hard enough for the ball to reach beyond the boundary without bouncing, the team accumulates six runs and four runs if it bounces before reaching the boundary.
On the bowling side, other than the bowler, there are other players known as fielders that are responsible for guarding the field, preventing runs and potentially getting batsmen out. A run is prevented (wherein the batsman is deemed out) when the ball hits the stumps before the batsman reaches them himself when attempting to acquire runs for his team. Also, when a batsman hits the ball and the ball is caught before it hits the ground, he is also dismissed out. Each bowler on the bowling team (opposing the batting team) throws a set of 6 balls down the pitch which is known an “over.” There are different types of bowling such as fast bowling (which can reach 160 kmph), spin bowling, swing bowling etc. in the attempt to get the batsmen out.
Test cricket, ODI and T20 follow all of the above rules. However, in each type of game, the order of batting and length change. In Test cricket, the batting side and bowling side switch after all the batsmen have been dismissed out (with no limits on overs thrown in a game). This happens four times (i.e. every team bats twice); however, this is a long game format of which the pace of the game is slow in comparison to the other styles played. ODIs, on the other hand, are more exciting with each side batting only once where a limit of each side’s play is 50 overs bowled (i.e. 300 balls). T20 is an extremely fast paced version of the game just lasting 20 overs per side. It has all the excitement and nail biting that Test cricket lacks; big hits, exciting dismissals, crazy fans and pretty cheerleaders.
As my quest to understand cricket further continues, I hope to understand all the intricacies of play, the more complex rules and the strategies employed by each team when in play. But for now, I know that IPL is going to keep me excited (and obliviously distracted) this term. Make sure to check it out on http://www.youtube.com/user/indiatimes.
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