One thing that unites Indians like nothing else is the game of cricket. Cricket is not just a sport but a religion for cricket maniacs.
The euphoria of cricket reaches its peak in high-profile tournaments like World Cups, Champions Trophy, and in the matches between India, and arch-rival, Pakistan cricket team.
The madness for cricket does not only make it a popular sport but also a fascinating and gratifying career option. As a result, most children and youngsters fantasise about donning the legendary Blue jersey one day.
With so much competition at the forefront, it's critical to take the correct actions right from the outset. If you or your children need some direction, here's a step-by-step instruction guide on 'how to become a cricketer in India.'
Step By Step Guide on How To Become A Cricketer
1. Analyse Yourself and Make A Plan
The first step towards the journey of becoming a cricketer is analysing yourself. You should be aware of your strengths to capitalise more on them and weaknesses to work on them.
Analysing yourself will also help you pick your niche as a cricketer, such as a batsman, bowler, wicket-keeping batsman, and all-rounder.
To excel and establish your position in the cricket team, you should first recognise your ability to perform in a particular niche by experiencing different aspects of cricket.
Give yourself some time in the game to know if you are good at bowling, batting, wicket-keeping, or can do both batting and bowling.
You should try everything from batting to bowling to wicket-keeping in the initial months to understand your inherent talent or favourite forte in cricket.
After analysing your strength as a player, you should plan how you can improve your skills as a batsman/bowler or all-rounder. One should focus more on that particular aspect of the game which delights you.
If you love batting, you should plan to learn to play various shots, tackle speed variations and bouncers, safeguard stumps and build your defence.
If you plan to become a bowler, you should decide if you want to be a spinner or fast bowler and then learn about speed variation, length variation, swings, yorkers, etc.
If you want to become a cricketer so One should also plan their diet and health regime to be perfectly fit and healthy to catch the opportunities anytime they arise.
2. Find A Good Cricketer Academy
The second major step to becoming a cricket is finding a good cricket academy and enrolling. You have already chosen the aspect of cricket in which you want to improve and make your career as a cricketer.
It is time to find a Cricket Academy where you can work to sharpen your skills. A modern-day cricket academy is equipped with machines, technology and, most importantly, coaches that will help you drastically improve your skills and talent.
Research About Academy and its Track Record
Before joining any cricket academy, make sure you have researched about the academy, such as its facilities, coaches, training equipment, etc.
A reputed cricket academy will help you learn effective tips and tricks, and an academy's cricketing environment will push you to practice harder to get better every day.
Find an experienced Coach
An experienced coach can add significant value to your life. We all know how Ramakant Archrekar groomed Sachin Tendulkar to become the world's greatest batsman.
A competent coach with experienced eyes can detect the talent, skills, mistakes and areas which need improvement. Coaches also push you to expand your limits, refine your thoughts and instil confidence in you.
The Top 10 Cricket Academies in India are -
Karnataka Institute of Cricket, Bangalore
National Cricket Academy, Bangalore
Sehwag Cricket Academy, Jhajjar
Madan Lal Cricket Academy, Delhi
Jaipur Cricket Academy, Jaipur
National School of Cricket, Dehradun
VB Cricket Academy, Chennai
Vengsarkar Cricket Academy (VCA), Mumbai
L.B. Shastri Cricket Academy, Delhi
Sonnet Cricket Club, Delhi
3. Join A Professional Team
Your journey as a professional cricketer will start after joining the cricket academy. After learning the nitty-gritty of your domain in cricket, start playing for the academy or join a cricket club.
By competing in matches, you will be able to polish your skills and demonstrate your talent, and your performance will earn you recognition.
The professional teams are the stepping stone to the journey of donning the blue jersey of the Indian International Cricket Team. There are various district-level trials for different age groups, including under 14, under 16, under 19, and under 23.
As a player's performance improves at the district level, they are promoted to the state level team and then to the Ranji team. Performance in Ranji Trophy leads to India A and then the Indian International Cricket Team.
Research About Team
To become a professional cricketer, you should join a professional cricket team. You can join a school or college cricket team and then step into the teams of your cricket academy or club.
Before joining, evaluate the team in terms of players, opportunities, participation in tournaments, etc. All the academies have their own teams for different age groups or are associated with reputed clubs.
Keep an eye on the trial schedule to demonstrate your skills to get selected for these teams.
Always Be Fit in Your Role
After the team selection, your priority should be to cement your position in the team. To ensure your selection and retention in the team, you must be physically fit and expert in your role as a batsman, bowler, or wicket-keeper.
4. Play Some Real Tournament
The more exposure you get on the ground playing cricket, the more you evolve as a player. After joining a team or club, start playing as many tournaments as possible to implement practice sessions' learnings into games on the ground.
You can start participating in the tournaments held at the level of schools and colleges. Various tournaments and matches are organised between the clubs where you can demonstrate your skills by scoring runs or taking wickets.
If you are selected for the District level teams, you will get to participate in the district-level matches and tournaments.
The performance of these tournaments will open the doors to play State-level cricket, and continuous performance will pitchfork you in the limelight at the national level.
The important thing to note is that selectors are on the lookout for talented players who continuously perform well for their respective teams.
The selectors for district and state-level teams may be present in the important matches of clubs and academies to pick the best one. So these real tournaments can be your ticket to level up on the ladder to become a National cricket team player.
The most prominent tournaments at the state-level and national-level to knock at the door of the National Cricket Team are -
Ranji Trophy
Duleep Trophy
Irani Cup
Ranji One Day Trophy
Deodhar Trophy
Indian Premier League (IPL)
5. Try to Enter in IPL
Indian Premier League, popularly known as IPL, is a sensational cricket tournament that started in 2008 in India. The Indian Premier League is globally regarded as the most successful cricket tournament in terms of popularity, viewership, financial rewards, and participation of international players.
IPL is a T20 tournament that became the platform to exhibit the talent and skills to get praise, recognition, and a ticket to the National Cricket Team.
IPL has become the big tournament for domestic players to get recognition and a medium to get selected for the Indian National Team.
Indian Premier League also helped many Indian and foreign players to make a comeback in their national teams via IPL performance. IPl Teams hire retired players as Talent scouts to discover and rope in the talented players from across the country.
IPL teams also send enquiries to various State Cricket Associations to ask about promising youngsters before inviting them for trials. On the findings of talent scouts and State Associations, players are invited for trials to finalise the selection for the team.
Indian Premier League is the biggest platform to show off your talent and realise the dream of selection into the national cricket squad.
You will have to perform consistently in your respective team to get into the IPL. Indian players like Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, etc., get into the team after stellar performances in the IPL.
6. National Team Cricketer Selection
Selection to the National Cricket Team is the ultimate goal of any budding or aspirational cricketer. All the sweat and blood you shed on the ground gets honoured with the selection in the National Team.
To make inroads in the National team, you will not only have to consistently contribute to your respective team but also have to be patient, persistent and super-fit.
First, you get selected to the District level team through trials and upon performing well, you get into the Divisional Team.
Though there is no hierarchy to get into the Ranji Team, the performances at the district and divisional levels are the parameters for the selection in Ranji Teams.
The Best talent of Ranji Teams is selected for participation in Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup. The Best performers of the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup are selected for India A and then for the National Cricket Team.
There is no hard and fast rule or particular hierarchy that you have to follow to get selected for the National Team.
Talent and performance are requisite for selection into the National Cricket Team. Sachin Tendulkar was selected for the National Team at 16; likewise, there are examples of players such as Farokh Engineer, Ajit Wadekar, Chetan Chauhan, etc., who debuted in their 30s in the National Cricket Team.
So, focus on your performance and contribution to the team to get selection in playing 11 from India
Conclusion
Gentleman's Game - Cricket is the most popular sport in India. The limelight and monetary benefits of being a cricketer attract the youths to become professional cricketers.
The competition to play for the National cricket team is perhaps the highest for any profession. But, if you are determined to become a cricketer and ready to infuse the hard work with patience & Perseverance, you can surely make it into the Indian team.
To establish yourself as a cricketer, evaluate yourself and decide the forte of cricket in which you want to excel. The next step will be getting admission to a professional cricket academy with an experienced coach to improve your skills and expand your capabilities.
Academies will help in skill improvement and will provide exposure to the tournaments. The path to the National Team starts from district-level cricket.
Tournaments like Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Irani Cup, IPL, etc., are the prominent tournaments to showcase your talent to National selectors. You can build your place in the team with consistent performance in no time.
We would advise you to take great care of your health, as it's the biggest asset of any athlete and improve your skills to execute as and when the opportunity arises.
Best of luck with your cricketing Journey! Please stay connected with us for more such stories.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Is cricket a good career?
If you are passionate about cricket, it is certainly one of the best career options. In the cricketing career, you will get the opportunity to earn a name, fame, and money.
The Indian Premier League has opened the doors for young unsung talented players to prove themselves and earn fame & insane money. BCCI increased the remuneration in 2021, making it an attractive career option.
As a professional cricketer, you'll start earning the moment you're part of an under-16 team.
Q2. How many years will it take to become a cricketer?
You become a cricketer the moment you start playing professional cricket. But if you're seeking the time it takes to debut in the Indian Cricket Team, there is no correct answer to this question.
Your Talent and how well you convert the opportunities in your favour determine the time it will take you to get into the national cricket team.
Sachin Tendulkar took just five years to enter the Indian Cricket Team, while Virat Kohli took almost ten years to make his team in the team after they started training.
Q3.What is the salary of a cricketer in India?
BCCI recently revised the scale pay for Domestic and International players. An under 16 team member will get a match fee of 7000 if playing in the team and 3500 if not part of the playing 11.
An under-19 team member will get ₹20,000 if included in the playing squad and ₹10,000 if on the bench as a reserve. An under-23 player in the playing squad will get ₹25,000, and the reserve players will get ₹12,500.
The senior players playing Ranji will get 40k for up to 20 matches, 50k for 21-40 matches and 60k for the experience of above 40 matches. Reserves will revive a remuneration of 20k, 25k, and 30k, respectively.
Q4. Can I become a cricketer after the 12th?
You can start playing cricket at any age. So yes, you can start your cricketing journey right after the 12th or better if you start early to get the required experience and exposure at a young age.
Coaches advise joining the academy as young as 10-12 years to get ample time to learn and succeed. However, some players like Pravin Tambe debuted in the IPL in 2013 at the age of 41.
So age is no bar to playing cricket and joining a professional team if you have the right talent and skills.
Q5. What qualifications do you need to be a cricketer?
Although there is no requirement for educational qualification, you should complete basic education. In cricket, the utmost importance is given to physical fitness, talent, and skills.
An aspiring player should be athletic, hardworking, energetic and aware of the rules and regulations of the game. A player should also be proficient in one aspect of the game, such as Batting, Bowling, or Wicket-keeping.