Players of each team are further classified based on their special skills into bowler, batsman, all-rounder (a player who can perform bowling and batting efficiently) and wicket-keeper.
Each team has Captain and Vice-Captain, who are responsible for taking vital decisions during and before the game.
Batting
Batting is carried on by two players of a team at a time. Their main objective is to score as many runs as they can for their team. These runs are vital in deciding the winner of the game. The batsman takes a stance at the crease on the middle stump of the side of the pitch he bats. The basic equipment required by a batsman includes bat, gloves, helmet, elbow guard, thigh guard, and abdominal guard. Batsman tries to hit the ball bowled by the bowler to score runs by any of the following methods.
A batsman can hit the ball away from the fielder and runs from one end crease to another end to score a run or more before the fielder collects the ball and tries for dismissal.
He can also hit the ball bowled directly to the boundaries to score 4 runs or 6 runs depending on the fact that if the bounce is inside the boundary the line than 04 runs will be awarded to the batsman and team. If the ball has cleared the boundary without any bounce inside then the batsman will be awarded 06 runs.
While the batsman tries to score the maximum amount of runs, he has to make sure he doesn’t lose his wicket. A batsman can lose his wicket in the following 11 ways:
- Catch out
- Bowled out
- Hit wicket
- Leg Before Wicket
- Run Out
- Timed Out
- Stump out
- Retired out
- Handling ball
- Obstructing fielding
- Hit the ball twice
For Test matches, the total score of the team after 10 dismissals is the total score required to be chased by another team to win the game.
But on the other hand in limited-overs games like ODI’S and T20 the total score required to be chased can be after 10 dismissals on team batting first or on the completion of overs of the first innings.
Bowling is the part of the game in which a bowler delivers the ball from the crease on the opposite end of the pitch where a batsman takes the stance intending to dismiss the batsman, while simultaneously trying not to let the batsman score runs off the ball.
Bowling on the correct line and length is very important. Appropriate distance from the crease is also an important factor as the batting team can be rewarded by extra runs via Wide ball, No ball and free hits.
A bowler can be broadly classified as pace or swing bowler based on the speed and leg or off spinner based on the way and direction the ball spin after pitching on the wicket.
Fielding
Grounds are mostly oval in shape with a rectangular pitch at the center of the ground where batting and bowling are done by both playing teams alternately surrounded by lush green outfield which looks amazing. length of the pitch is 22 yards and breadth 03 meters.
There is a 30-yard circle around the pitch which is very crucial during field placement during the power play.
Role of a Fielder
Fielding in cricket plays an important role in restricting the number of runs scored by the opposite team batsman by preventing runs inside the ground by agile athleticism on the field. Fielder also plays an important role in the dismissal of a batsman, it may either be by run out or by catches as the phrase goes “catches wins matches”.
The wicketkeeper is a specialized fielder whose position is fixed behind the wicket where the batsman takes the stance. Helmet, leg pads and wicket-keeper gloves are the basic equipment is worn by the wicket-keeper. Keeping requires great specialization as most of the time, the keeper is the person who is very near to the batsman while a shot is played requiring the keeper to possess skills like excellent reflexes and a great presence of mind. The keeper can dismiss a batsman through stamping i.e. when a ball is bowled to a batsman, he tries to hit the ball going out of his batting crease and has a miss-hit on it the wicketkeeper can collect the ball behind the wicket and remove the bails of wickets before the batsman reaching back to the crease.
There are different field positions of the fielders depending upon distance and direction from the batsman. The basic is that the left side of the pitch is known as the offside and the right side is known as the leg side. Other Fielding positions in the basics of cricket are as follows
Long on, Long off, short mid-wicket, mid-wicket, mid-on, mid-off, gully, slips, third man, short third man, Fly Slip, Long Stop, Deep Gully, Silly Point, Deep point, Cover sweeper, cover point, extra cover, deep extra cover, silly mid-off, silly mid-on, straight hit, long on, sweeper, square leg, deep square leg, leg gully, Long leg, leg slip, short fine leg, deep fine leg.
Appeal – Till the time the Fielding team doesn’t appeal to the umpire, an umpire may not give the decision for the batsman to be out by raising his index finger towards the sky. Thus appealing for dismissals is a must for Fielding team, Appeal is generally done in these terms “Hows That”.
Umpire
Generally, three in numbers umpire in cricket are required for the smooth conduct of a game, who is responsible for having a check on regulations and make sure that the game is played with sportsmanship spirit by all the players of both teams.
The three umpires in the basics of cricket are Leg umpire, Main umpire and Third or TV umpire. The main job of Main umpire and Leg umpire is carried on the cricket field and most of the on-ground decisions lie in their hands.
If there is some uncertainty in Umpire decision or if a player wants to challenge the decision of the on-field umpire, he can always ask for the DRS (Decision Review System).
The Third umpire takes the conclusive and deciding crucial decisions of the game with the help of cameras and modern technologies such as ultra edge, slow-motion imaging and hot spots.
Match Decisions
Like any other game, one of the teams has to win and other team losses. There are four possible outcomes of a match.
Win– if a team passes through the target set by another team, then they win.
Tie – When both the teams end up scoring the same amount of runs in the limited over the game then the match is said to be a tie.
Draw– This possibility creates when both teams are unable to win the game. This kind of situation is only related to test matches.
Match Called Off – Under special natural obstructions like rain, bad visibility, etc. A match can be Called Off by the on-field Umpires.
Apart from the above said there are two more ways to decide the winner of a cricket limited-overs game.
DLSand SUPER OVER are other interesting options for fixing the match result.
