History Of Cricket

Indian Cricket

It was the British sailors that brought the game of cricket to our country in the 18th century. The year 1792 saw the 1st ever cricket club, while the national cricket team debuted on the international field on 25th June in a Lord’s test match in 1932 and in the same year, they became the 6th team to enjoy Test cricket status.

It was only 20 years later, in 1952, that India enjoyed their first Test cricket win.

The Men’s National Cricket team of India, also popularly referred to by fans as the Men in Blue or Team India primarily represents India in the international arena. Team India is officially operated and governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which enjoys full membership of the international governing body of cricket, the ICC.

The first 50 years of Indian cricket were uneventful. It was only after the 1970s that stunners like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev elevated the status of Indian cricket. India premiered in ODI and T20 cricket in 1974 and 2006, respectively.

Highlights Of The Men In Blue

We managed to gain international accolades with 5 ICC tournament victories, which includes two World Cup trophies in 1983 and 2011, ICC Champions trophies in 2002 and 2013 and the T20 World Cup in 2007. The Men in Blue have also been runners-up a few times in all major tournaments over the decades, that include the very recent inaugural 2019-2021 ICC World Test Championship.

Throughout the stunning journey of the Men in Blue, Indian cricket has been uplifted by the birth, evolution and glory of some extraordinary legends whose names are cemented in the cricketing hall of fame. A few unskippable names in this possibly exhausting list would include the likes of:

• Sunil Gavaskar
• Kapil Dev
• Sachin Tendulkar
• Sourav Ganguly
• Vijay Hazare
• Virendar Sehwag
• Anil Kumble
• Mahendra Singh Dhoni
• Zaheer Khan
• Rahul Dravid
• Virat Kohli

The Ensuing Fandom Of Fantasy Cricket

Considering the thriving glittering history of Indian cricket, the percolating fandom and popularity of fantasy cricket have been a natural phenomenon in the current times. Truth be told, Fantasy cricket has only upped the fever of this spectacular sport by fusing the love for the sport amongst fans by involving them with the action in real-time.

What Is Fantasy Cricket?

If you haven’t been introduced to the world of fantasy cricket, let’s start with the game concept before diving into how to play fantasy cricket. The concept is simple. Fantasy cricket is essentially the virtual extension of cricket games.

Fantasy cricket is realized in an online app where players all register in the app and log into their fantasy account to play virtual matches of cricket. These virtual matches are an online adaptation of real-life cricket games, series and leagues held all over the world.

So, how do you play Fantasy cricket online?

How To Play Fantasy Cricket & Earn Real Cash In India?

The first step to getting closer to playing a fantasy cricket game involves you selecting one from the list of matches featured on a fantasy cricket website or an app. These matches you select are typically about to run live in the field.

So, to play a virtual game means having a virtual team of your own. A player needs to have a fair knowledge of the most probable players who will be playing the real match. Accordingly, a player uses one’s best judgment and knowledge and adds eleven players to make his fantasy cricket team of eleven.

Unlike the real match though, these eleven players in your fantasy team include players from both teams in action. Learning how to play fantasy cricket right also involves an understanding of the fantasy cricket rules and the fantasy cricket point system.

You need to follow the fantasy cricket rules and check out a few fantasy cricket tips to form your best team of eleven and once it's done, you enjoy the match. Your fantasy team collects Fantasy Points for you based on their actual performance in the match and you win real cash money as per the rank of your fantasy team on the match leaderboard.

You follow the score updates and when the match you’re onboard finishes, you check out the leaderboard. If your fantasy team happens to finish in the money, once the scoring is complete, the cash prize you rank for instantly gets credited to your account.

On the SportsBaazi app, you can play cricket games from all available leagues, formats and tournaments: T20Is, T10s, ODIs and test matches. That being said, it's time to check out the fantasy cricket rules to understand the gameplay fully.

Fantasy Cricket Rules

To know how to play Fantasy Cricket online and win real cash money, you must memorize the standard fantasy rules. Here, we will jot down the specific fantasy rules on the SportsBaazi fantasy app.

Each player in a Fantasy Cricket match is allotted certain points. Players also receive bonus points for various performances during the match such as taking wickets, the number of runs, century bonus points, ducks and so on.

To make a winning team, you must be well aware of the recent performance, track records, current form, injuries if any, and a consistent display of repertoire from the participants of the leagues.

Fantasy Cricket Point System

Captain

The Captain carries the maximum number of points of 2x. Choosing him is the key decision you’ll take, when you form a fantasy team of 11 solid players.

Vice Captain

Selecting the Vice Captain is the second most important decision when learning how to play Fantasy Cricket online. The Vice Captain carries 1.5x points as per the Fantasy Cricket rules.

Playing XI

If any player you select and add to your fantasy team happens to be playing in the actual match, you get additional 4 points for each player you choose before the actual match starts.

Runs

For every run score, you get one point for your fantasy team. Fours get you one point and sixes get you 2 points. Scoring a half-century gets you 4 points and a Century adds 8 points to your fantasy team. On the other hand, a Duck out scores you minus 3 points.

We shall jot down the fantasy cricket point system for each format of a cricket match below for absolute clarity.

Fantasy Cricket Point System: Formats

T20 - Batting

Every Run Scored- 1 points

Every Boundary Hit- 1 runs

Every Six Hit - 2 point

30 runs bonus: 4 points

Half Century Scored (fifty runs and more)- 8 Points

Century- 16 Points

Dismissal for duck (batsman, all-rounder and wicket keeper) - minus 2 points

Strike rate:

Above 170 runs per 100 balls 6

Between 150.01-170 runs per 100 balls 4

Between 130-150 runs per 100 balls 2

Between 60-70 runs per 100 balls -2

Between 50-59.99 runs per 100 balls -4

Below 50 runs per 100 balls -6

T20 Bowling

Each Wicket Taken (Except Run Out) - 25 points

LBW/bowled bonus: 8 points

Each Maiden Over- 12 points

4 Wickets in one match- 8 points

5 Wickets in one match - 16 points

Economy: Below 5 runs per over 6

Between 5-5.99 runs per over 4

Between 6-7 runs per over 2

Between 10-11 runs per over -2

Between 11.01-12 runs per over -4

Above 12 runs per over -6

T20 Fielding

Each Catch taken- 8 points

3 Catch bonus: 4 points

Each Run Out (Thrower) - 6 points

Every Run Out (Catcher) - 6 points

Every Run Out (Direct Hit) - 12 points

Every Stumping - 12 Points

T20 Economy Rate

Applicable Only If Players Bowled Minimum Overs of -2 Points

Between 6 and 5 runs per over (T10/T20) -1 Point

Between 4.99 and 4 runs per over (T10/T20) -2 Points

Below 4 runs per over (T10/T20) -3 Points

Between 9 and 10 runs per over (T10/T20) -Minus 1 Point

Between 10.01 and 11 runs per over (T10/T20) - Minus 2 Points

Above 11.01 runs per over (T10/T20) -Minus 3 Points

T20 - Strike Rate (Bowler Excluded)

Applicable for players batting minimum balls (Except Bowlers) -10 Points

Between 60 & 70 runs per 100 balls (T10/T20) -Minus 1 Point

Below 50-59.9 runs per 100 ball (T10/T20) - Minus 2 Points

Below 50 runs per 100 balls (T10/T20) - Minus 3 Points

ODI Batting

Every Run Scored- 1 Points

Every Boundary Hit - 1 Points

Every Six Hit- 2 Pointss

Half Century Scored (50 Runs and more)- 4 Points

Century (If score is more than 150, then given century + half century) - 8 Points

Dismissal for duck (batsmen, all-rounder and wicket-keeper) - Minus 3 points

ODI- Strike Rate (Excludes Bowler)

Above 140 runs per 100 balls 6

Between 120.01-140 runs per 100 balls 4

Between 100-120 runs per 100 balls 2

Between 40-50 runs per 100 balls -2

Between 30-39.99 runs per 100 balls -4

Below 30 runs per 100 balls -6"

ODI Bowling

Each Wicket Taken (Excluding Run Out) -25 Points

Each Maiden Over -4 Points

4 Wickets Taken In a Match- 4 Points

5 Wickets Taken In a Match - 8 Points

Bonus LBW/bowled: 8 points

ODI Fielding

3 catch bonus: 4 points

Every Catch Taken - 8 Points

Every Run Out (Thrower) - 6 Points

Every Run Out (Catcher) - 6 Points

Every Run Out (Direct Hit) - 12 Points

Every Stumping - 12 Points

ODI Economy Rate

Min. 5 Overs

Below 2.5 runs per over

Between 2.5 - 3.49 runs per over

Between 3.5 - 4.5 runs per over

Between 7 - 8 runs per over

Between 8.01 - 9 runs per over

Above 9 runs per over

ODI- Strike Rate (Excludes Bowler)

Applicable for players batting minimum balls (Except Bowlers) -20 Points

Between 50 and 60 runs per 100 balls (ODI) -1 Points

Between 40 and 49.9 runs per 100 balls (ODI) -2 Points

Below 40 runs per 100 balls (ODI) -3 Points

Test Batting

Runs: 1 point

Boundary: 1 point

Six: 2 points

half century : 4 points

Centuty: 8 points

Duck : - 4

Test Bowling

Every Wicket Taken (Except Run Out)- 16 Points

LBW/ bowled bonus: 8 points

4 Wickets Taken In a Match- 4 Points

5 Wickets Taken In a Match- 8 Points

Test Fielding

Every Catch Taken- 8 Points

Every Run Out (Thrower)- 6 Points

Every Run Out (Catcher)- 6 Points

Every Run Out (Direct Hit)- 12 Points

Every Stumping- 12 points

For other Test / T20 / ODI, the starting 11 points(4) are not credited.

Benefits Of Playing Fantasy Cricket

The key benefits of playing Indian fantasy games and seasoned fantasy leagues can be summed up as:

• For fans of the sport, choosing to play fantasy cricket online offers the ideal platform to hone your cricketing knowledge and skills and transform them into productive exercises that shall also win you real money.
• The world of fantasy cricket presents constant real-time engagement with your favorite sport by letting you be part of the live action with a fantasy team of your own to follow and count on.
• If you play cricket online on SportsBaazi, you have a universe full of cash leagues and fantasy cricket league contests to choose from for stakes of your choice. Beginners can play practice contests for free and enjoy them at equal length.
• SportsBaazi hands out a free Player Intelligence report that gives out detailed information on player stats, performance, and recent track records against opponents.
• When you learn how to play fantasy cricket, you can utilize this information wisely to make informed decisions when selecting players for their virtual team.

The best part is that on the SportsBaazi app, you can enjoy instant withdrawals of your cash winnings once you are KYC verified.

What Is Reverse Fantasy Cricket?

Reverse Fantasy Cricket is a format of fantasy cricket where the player gets scored for the worst performance by his fantasy team of 11. As per the Reverse fantasy cricket rules, the player has to pick the least fantasy-scoring players in a team. This means you get your hands to choose the worst players for your playing team of 11.

The worse they perform, the more points you score as per the fantasy cricket rules. Winning maximum fantasy points ranks you higher on the match leaderboard and you win real cash that's credited to your SB wallet.

Like Fantasy cricket, this reverse fantasy format includes picking your Captain & Vice Captain who carry 0.5x and 0.75x points respectively. Therefore, the entire concept and format of playing Reverse fantasy cricket is exactly the opposite of fantasy cricket.

Play Fantasy Cricket & Earn Real Cash On SportsBaazi

Having gathered all the core knowledge regarding fantasy cricket online, we are excited to welcome you to download the SportsBaazi app and join our stellar community of 80lakh+ fantasy players all across India.

The variety of leagues and formats is numerous. Pick from classic, batting, bowling and reverse fantasy formats. Pick one or more formats, select the match you wish to play for and create your best team of playing 11 and start making some money today!

You already know the benefits of playing fantasy cricket online on our app, but there’s a lot more to discover and enjoy.

Below are some additional sets of rewards you can earn besides real cash prizes.

SB Loyalty Rewards Program

On SportsBaazi, you can be a part of India’s biggest loyalty reward programme. We offer our Baazigars the royal chance to redeem Reward points and claim exciting prizes for free . Playing cash games on SportsBaazi can help you unlock lavish rewards such as international trips, cars, two-wheelers, gadgets, and more.

Simply join our cash leagues, level up and receive scratch cards to claim any reward of your choice. The higher you climb on the level ladder, the bigger your rewards.

How To Create The Dream Fantasy Cricket Team On SportsBaazi?

Fantasy cricket is an enormous world of excitement, relentless action and cutthroat competition. Knowing a few fantasy cricket tips and learning a few tricks up your sleeve can help you beat the competition by forming the best possible team and winning greater rewards.

Here are a few fantasy cricket tips and tricks that shall help you enter the winner’s circle and never let the taste of glory slip away.

Fantasy Cricket Tips And Tricks To Become A Pro

• Playing conditions (pitch and weather etc.)
• Opponents
• Track record and current form of players
• Venue and time
• Players to watch out for (star performers)
• Reshuffling your players

If learning how to play fantasy cricket like a pro is what you aim for, you must be keen to build up on some of your skills too. These tips are spread across team formation, leadership skills, targeting bonus points and a few other lesser-known aspects of online gaming.

Who Are Your Favorite Players?

This is a two-way road to success and failure alike. In Fantasy cricket, it is important to go with a combination of common sense and gut feeling at the same time. It is thus advisable to choose top and in-form players who can win you games on their own in batting or bowling or both.

Choosing ace players seldom disappoints right? Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Ajinkya Rahane, Cameroon Green, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Jasprit Bumrah, Aaron Finch, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Babar Azam, Rishabh Pant, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow, R Ashwin, Adam Zampa, etc. Consistency is the key!

Choose Your Captain And Vice-Captain Carefully

A Captain and a Vice-Captain together carry additional 2x and 1.5x points for the performance of every player. You should choose these two players carefully to gain maximum advantage.

Trust Your Instincts

You should also watch out for players who have done well on a certain venue or against a certain opponent. Such players could be your trump card. This is where your gut feeling becomes so important in this game. Simply following the fantasy cricket rules won’t be enough.

Tip: You can also include an uncapped player in your squad too. He could be a dark horse as his batting or bowling styles would be mostly unknown. He could capitalize on this and may help you win BIG!

Read Into The Game

It is important to know where the teams are playing, what are the weather and pitch conditions and if toss could be a deciding factor. There are players who thrive in one condition or the other and it is important to see if they can adapt to new playing conditions easily.

Most Indian cricket fantasy sites offer a detailed overview of players, their strengths, availability and other attributes for the same reason. With us, you would get all this information in consolidated form, topped with our experts’ opinion for every single match.

Is It Possible To Make Last Minute Changes?

Online fantasy cricket is just the thing for challenges and last minute changes. The team manager can replace a player at the last minute because some other player got a fitness certificate this morning. There could be exclusion anytime for injury or due to playing conditions- is your team flexible enough to absorb it?

Now here is a question, is your star player in any exchange list too? This is an important question to consider because his presence or absence even, may prove to be a deciding factor in a crucial game.

Choose Or Reshuffle Your Players Daily

This may not seem like such a brilliant idea but trust us, it could cost you a fantasy match! You could miss out on a top player who has just joined the series or a player who might have been ruled out of the competition.

And what if your team is not prepared for it?

In this case, you could send an in-form fast playing batsman at the top. In case, he comes good and performs well, he could land you with some extra points too!

Go For Bonus Points

Fantasy cricket games are a lot about close competition. Since these games are being played among enthusiasts who are at almost the same order of knowledge for the game, it is important for you to get into action fast.

Scoring bonus points is a really cool way to do this. These bonus points are available for every wicket taken, boundary scored or (half) century scored, etc. The higher the number of high-performing players in your squad, the more would be your chances to win some bonus points.

We are sure these expert fantasy cricket tips and tricks would help you bring your A game. This online gaming genre is a lot about skills, thought and leadership and we would thus advise you to stay consistent with it.

To help elevate your winning chances, you can check out the SportsBaazi fantasy app and go through the Player Intelligence report and analyze the recent stats and fantasy points acquired by players in the recent matches and make really smart decisions.

Popular Fantasy Cricket Leagues

Since its inception, ICC has hosted numerous cricket leagues and tournaments that bring together the international crowd to feel in unison. Some of the world’s most anticipated leagues in international cricket that are played by fantasy cricket fans are mentioned below.

Indian T20 Premier League

Founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and popularly coined as IPL, the Indian T20 Premier League is the Men’s professional Twenty20 cricket league played by ten cricket teams that belong to 3 Indian states and 7 Indian cities.

Started in 2008, the Indian T20 Premier League is one of India’s most watched cricket leagues and has set massive records in viewership, hitting a stunning 31.5 million impressions in the 2020 season. It has been the most revolutionary form of cricket in history and its popularity continues to grow every passing year.

Lasting for about 2 months, it is the perfect league to test and validate your fantasy cricket skills and earn the big bucks.

Big Bash League (BBL)

The Big Bash League aka the BBL is an Australian professional franchise of the Twenty20 cricket league that was introduced in the year 2011 by Cricket Australia. Earlier consisting of 6 state teams, currently, the reformed KFC BBL features 8 city-based cricket franchises. BBL is typically played in the months of December, January and February in Australia. Melbourne Renegades, Brisbane Heat, Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Thunder are the four teams to have clinched the trophy at least once.

T20 World Cup

Hosted every two years, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is the world championship of Twenty20 cricket hosted by the international body of cricket, ICC. The world tournament features 16 teams at the moment. The top ten teams qualify directly from the rankings and the remaining six teams are picked during the T20 World Cup Qualifiers.

Pakistan Super League (PSL)

Established by the Pakistan Cricket Board in 2015, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket tournament that takes place in the months of February and March each year. It comprises 6 teams that represent 6 cities of Pakistan. So far, seven seasons of PSL have been out and Islamabad United wore the champions crown twice. Lahore Qalandars are the current champions of the 2022 season.

UEA T20 League

Popularly known as the ILT20, the International League T20 is a fresh introduction to the array of cricket leagues that are to be played in the United Arab Emirates. Six teams are competing in this league whose first edition is scheduled to be played in January 2023.

Besides 2 fixed players from UAE, 9 out of 11 players on each team can be from overseas which is remarkably a bigger inclusion than the standard 4 to 5 overseas player limit across other popular T20 leagues.

Play Fantasy Cricket League With Multiple Fantasy Cricket Teams

On the SportsBaazi app, we offer players the feature to create multiple fantasy teams for a single match or contest so that you can always boost your chances to win more real cash prizes.

This means you can include additional players that you wanted to include in your team but had to miss out in your first draft. This way, you have a wider window to better analyze your chances of winning more games.

Summing Up

That all being said, it's time you get ahead of the competition and mug up the fantasy cricket rules and revise those fantasy cricket tips and step into the madness. It's advisable to play a few practice matches first to get a hang of the game and then switch to cash contests and start raking in the big bucks!