Cricket is a team game which is played between two teams of eleven players each. It’s a bat-and-ball game. In India, cricket is by far the most popular sport and almost practiced like a religion. The cricket field consists of a large circular or oval-shaped grassy ground. The pitch where the batsmen have to face the bowler is 22 yards. The objective of the game is to score more runs than the opposing team. The team bowling first tries to bowl out the batting side, and then out score them. Batting and bowling are thus alternated. There are two forms of cricket - Test matches and one day. A 20-20 version of the game is also being played now.
India has achieved tremendous success in cricket, by winning the 1983 World Cup under the captaincy of Kapil Dev, and finishing as a runner-up in 2003 World Cup under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly. Domestic cricket in India has major tournaments like Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy and Duleep trophy.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the top governing body of Indian cricket which is a representative of Team India in the International Cricket Council (ICC). The BCCI is the union of various state cricket boards from all over the country.
