Greatest Pastime: Cricket in India

Cricket, like baseball, is a bat-and-ball game, but played between two teams of 11 players each on a field at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. Each team takes its turn to bat, attempting to score runs, while the other team fields. Each turn is known as an inning.

The bowler delivers the ball to the batsman who attempts to hit the ball with his flat, paddle-like bat so he can run to the other end of the pitch (which is counted as one run) without getting run out (the event in which the fielder throws the ball directly onto wickets or to a player who is near to wickets so he can dislodge them from the ground before the batsman or the nonstriker has reached the crease). Each batsman continues batting until he is out. The batting team continues batting until ten batsmen are out or specified number of overs have been bowled, at which point the teams switch roles and the fielding team comes in to bat.

In professional cricket, the length of a game ranges from 20 overs of six bowling deliveries per side to Test cricket played over five days. The Laws of Cricket are maintained by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), and was first played in southern England in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, it had developed to be the national sport of England. The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being played overseas and by the mid-19th century the first international match was held.

The game is most popular in Australia, England, the Indian subcontinent, the West Indies, and Southern Africa, however, you can find local cricket enthusiasts across the globe.