Cricket has evolved over the years. From timeless, 6-day Tests, 60-overs ODIs, 50-overs ODIs to T20 and T10, cricket has seen great evolution to match the changing needs and requirements. But there are still a few variants of cricket different to the traditional game of ball and cricket. Have a look.
1) Vedic cricket
This type of cricket is popular in Varanasi, India. Although it is the normal bat and ball game, the difference is the players and the mode of entertainment. The players are the Vedic students and Sanskrit scholars who wear the traditional dhoti and kurta to play a game of cricket. The matches are part of the inter-college competitions between Sanskrit colleges. The commentary is also in Sanskrit.
2) Cricket on Ice
This form of cricket is popular in the freezing conditions of Lake St. Moritz in Switzerland. This game of cricket is played on ice with picturesque snow-capped mountains as the backdrop. However, few rules are tweaked. The cricket ball is a plastic red ball that makes it easy to be found if it gets stuck in the snow.
The matches are usually six-a-side, with two runs given on wide, with no extra ball allowed, as it is difficult for the bowler to run on the ice every time. The boundaries are being marked out with snow-banks or manned by officials on ice skates. You score 6 runs if you hit the skater.
3) Beach cricket
Playing beach cricket is fun when you love the beaches, the setting-sun environment, and a game of bat and ball. The fun in beach cricket is that everything is unofficial. There are no fixed rules for playing beach cricket.
You can put beer crates or bricks or just furniture for makeshift wickets. The rules are flexible as well. You can mark any line across the beach as boundaries or you could put some make-shift markers.
The fun about playing cricket on a beach is that the bounce varies every delivery due to the uneven surface. Hence, you have to be on top of your game to play beach cricket.
4) Indoor or lane cricket
We all have played this type of cricket in our childhood. We just search for small space in our neighbourhood to play cricket. It could be a lane between two houses or the terrace or even the balcony. In this indoor cricket, we usually use a tennis ball to play cricket. The cricket rules depend on the space of indoor cricket. For example, if you play in a lane, you mark hitting a wall as 2 runs or 1 run. And if the ball goes outside the wall, you are out.
5) Tape ball cricket
This form of cricket is extremely popular in Pakistan. The tennis ball is rolled up in insulation tape to generate more swing and pace. In fact, there are tournaments dedicated to tape ball cricket in Pakistan. These tournaments range from 4 to 12 overs per innings and rules are formed depending on the organisers.
Cover picture credits: Ali Baba
