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Tennis ball cricket

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Tennis ball cricket is often played without protective gear and other make shift items such as using stones for stumps

Tennis ball cricket (or softball cricket) is a variant of cricket played using a tennis ball. It is popular in the Indian subcontinent and is also played in Middle-East, United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. A tennis ball is easier to play with compared to a conventional hard cricket ball and is also less likely to cause injury. There is no definite record as to when this originated in the Indian subcontinent.

History

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Tennis ball cricket originated in the Indian subcontinent though there is no definite record as to when it started. The first Tennis Ball Cricket body was formed in 1982 known as Tennis Ball Cricket Association of India (TBCAI).[1] Many prominent international cricketers have played some form of tennis ball cricket early in their careers.[2][3]

Rules and playing areas

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Tennis ball cricket is often played on streets

The rules of this game can vary significantly from standard cricket, and often the rules of regular cricket do not apply as they normally would. The number of overs in a game and players in a team is usually less than in a conventional cricket match. Considering that the ball is not as hard as a professional cricket ball, the use of protective gear like gloves, pads and helmets is optional. The playground can be anywhere from a house backyard to a beach to a relatively-uncrowded street, the courtyard of a school, the driveway of a residential building, agricultural fields or any open public spaces with shorter user defined boundaries and make shift stumps.[4] In the Middle East, it is played in the open desert and baseball or soccer grounds are used in the US, Canada and Europe.[5]

A training tennis ball

The ball used is a typical tennis ball, a ball that is intended for the sport of tennis. Tennis balls are fluorescent yellow-green in most cases but can be other colors in recreational play. Tennis balls are covered in a fibrous felt, which modifies their aerodynamic properties, and each has a white curvilinear oval covering it.[6][7] The ball may be wrapped with tape (to make what is known as a tape ball) to induce swing in some cases.[4]

Tournaments

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As tennis ball cricket matches are shorter and suited to recreational play, conventional tournaments have been hosted in South Asian countries and Middle East.[8] The 10PL tournament has been organised at Sharjah Cricket Stadium since its inaugural edition in 2016, with the first three tournaments held there before the event expanded to India.[9][10] With the participation of international cricketers like Robin Uthappa and Dwayne Bravo.[11][12][13] In 2023, National Tennis Ball Cricket League was established with eight teams in India.[14] In December 2023, The Indian Street Premier League – T10 was announced with Ravi Shastri, former Indian cricket team captain and head coach, as chief mentor. The core committee also consists of Mumbai Cricket Association president Amol Kale and BCCI treasurer Ashish Shelar.[15] In June 2024, The Entertainers Cricket League T10 was announced as India's first social media superstars cricket league.[16][17] The franchises' captains include Youtubers like Abhishek Malhan, Elvish Yadav, Munawar Faruqui, Sonu Sharma, Anurag Dwivedi, and Harsh Beniwal.[18][19] Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra was also appointed as League commissioner.[20] The tournament brought together leading content creators from across India to showcase their cricketing skills and passion for the game. The inaugural edition concluded with Haryana Hunters, led by Elvish Yadav, winning the final.[21][22]

On May 2, 2025, Delhi based firm Servotech Sports announced Dream League of India, a one-of-a-kind Tennis-ball Cricket League which will be played among six franchise based team across the country. Sonu Sood was announced as a League Commissioner during a grand ceremony.[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "TBCAI history". TBCAI. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Axar Patel reminisces and executes in throwback to crunched tennis-ball action". Cricinfo. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Used to play tennis ball cricket by Sehwag". Mint. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Pakistan street cricket comes to life after dark during Ramadan". Tribune. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Pakistan's sticky business". BBC. 27 June 2002. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  6. ^ "ITF Technical - History". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Inside Wilson's tennis ball factory". ESPN The Magazine. 30 August 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Tennis Cricket tournaments". tenniscricket.in. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  9. ^ TennisCricket.in (2016-12-02). Final 10pl | Petromann Vs Pacific Venture. Retrieved 2025-05-14 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ Network, TC News (2016-12-03). "Full Final Match – Petromann VS Pacific Ventures". TennisCricket.in. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  11. ^ Saeed, Umaima (2020-02-27). "Sharjah Cricket Stadium to host an India vs Pakistan game during the 10PL". CricTracker. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  12. ^ "Dwayne Bravo announced face of 10PL tennis ball cricket tournament". The Statesman. 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  13. ^ "Robin Uthappa to mentor Tayyarah.com in 10PL". The Indian Express. 11 March 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  14. ^ "India Cup National Tennis Ball Cricket League 2023 trophy unveiled by Dr PV Shetty, Cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues". ANI. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  15. ^ Mukherjee, Abhishek (27 December 2023). "Indian Street Premier League: All You Need To Know About India's New T10 League". Wisden. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  16. ^ MBDesk (2024-06-18). "Entertainer's Cricket League T10 Launches in Mumbai with Top Content Creators as Team Captains". MediaBrief. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  17. ^ IANS (2024-06-24). "Entertainer's Cricket League ready to take India content creators to a global scale". The Statesman. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  18. ^ World, Savvy (2024-06-18). "Entertainer's Cricket League (ECL 2024): Content Creator Franchise-Based Cricket League Launch". GLOBAL NEWSMAKERS. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  19. ^ IANS (2024-06-24). "Entertainer's Cricket League ready to take India content creators to a global scale". The Statesman. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  20. ^ "Aakash Chopra named League Commissioner for the upcoming ECL". Balaji News. Archived from the original on 25 August 2024. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  21. ^ "2025 Entertainers Cricket League: Season highlights". 2025-03-27. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  22. ^ Staff, MyKhel (2024-09-23). "Entertainers Cricket League 2024: Elvish Yadav's Haryana Hunters win inaugural Final - Result, Award Winners". www.mykhel.com. Retrieved 2025-05-14.
  23. ^ "Dream League of India launched to promote tennis cricket in the country".
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