Indoor Cricket is a fully codified indoor variant of traditional outdoor cricket. The sport originated in Germany, and was later adapted by all cricket playing nations. Indoor cricket retains the basic aspects of the outdoor form, but has several modifications to make it suitable for playing indoors.
Indoor cricket is played in an indoor arena, with a pitch that is of the same size as the outdoor version, with the same equipment. The ball used is slightly softer than a regular cricket ball.
Some of the rules from indoor cricket are:
- Every player has to mandatorily bat and bowl in a match. Each player has to bowl two overs and bat in partnership with other player for 4 overs.
- Each team can only have 8 (unlike 11) players. There are versions of the sport played with 6 players per team.
- Each innings is played for 16 overs (12 overs for the 6 player version). Depending on the league, an over will consist of 6 or 8 balls. Each innings is split into four, four over quarters ( 3 overs for the 6 player version). Each quarter has to be completely played by a pair of batsmen, even if they get out. A batsman who has played in one quarter cannot play in any other quarters.
- Anytime a batsman gets out, five runs (3 in some leagues) are deducted from the team's total score.
- The team that bats second, plays for the entire 16 overs, even if they exceed the first team's score, because multiple wickets could bring down their total score. Winners are decided only after both 16 over innings are done.
Several major competitions are conducted for indoor cricket, the most popular of which is the Indoor Cricket World Cup, which is held in two or three year intervals.
Forms of Cricket
- Test Cricket — the longest form of the game, played over 5 days.
- One Day Cricket — a form of cricket in which each team's innings is played for a maximum of 50 overs.
- T20 Cricket — a fast-paced limited over cricket match played 20 overs per team.
- Beach Cricket — a casual, informal version of cricket played on beaches with simplified rules and equipment.
Related Pages
- About Cricket (general)
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports