Although hockey is the official national sport of India, when it comes to excitement and fan following nothing can beat cricket. You can travel from Jammu and Kashmir in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South; from Rajasthan in west to Arunachal Pradesh in the East, and you will see people of every age playing cricket in fields, lanes, and sometimes even in garages.
Cricket was introduced in India by the British and slowly it became famous among the Indian royalty; the British left India in 1947, but cricket remained. Today, cricket has become so popular that each game is celebrated as a festival and the status of an ace Indian cricketer is nearly like that of a deity.
It’s no wonder that a career in cricket has become the dream of every Indian kid - but only hard work, talent and a bit of luck can take you from a beginner to being a master cricketer. In this oneHOWTO article we will know how to get into an Indian cricket team.
To have a career in cricket and get into an Indian team you need to be athletic and hard working. It’s best to start from a very young age.
First, you will need to join a cricket club or team in your area. From there you can work your way up through the levels by sheer weight of performance. If there are trials in the cricket club you want to access, your best bet is to find a cricket coach so they can train you and tell you more about trial dates. Working one-to-one will be great to develop your technique and work on your weak spots. Learn how to be an all rounder and practice cricket at home to get better.
If you are demonstrating a high performance, you may also be recruited for the National Cricket Academy, which will increase your chances of playing at a semi-professional level.
If you started very young in your local club, you may have been noticed by regional under-13, under-15 or under-19 teams. These teams play against each other in local leagues within the same state. Eventually, the very best from that league are selected for state teams within an age range.
Other good cricket players can be apply or be called for professional clubs and play in the league, which is separated into categories or divisions. The players for the open state team are selected from these clubs. This is the most common way to get into an Indian cricket team and work as a professional player in India. Here you can learn more about how does the Indian Premier League work.
Even as an adult, with very hard practice and good performance you can go for city selection to be in the regional team. This is the second level in a cricket career: at this level, the competition becomes tougher. You have to continue the hard, deliberate practice and give very good on-field performance.
When you're looking for a local club, do some research and see if they keep in touch with a regional Cricket Association. The more contacts and chances to get noticed by an Indian cricket team, the better!
If your performance is good and you stand out in district and state-wide tournaments, then you can get selected for Ranji Trophy matches. A good performance in Ranji matches will give you lots of benefit. Again, you will need to show confidence on the field and keep practicing and training as hard as you can.
Are you unsure about this process? Here you can learn what is the Ranji Trophy selection process for more details.
If your performance is outstanding in the Ranji Trophy matches, then you have a chance in the Indian national cricket team. There are some players who specialize in a particular format of the game such as the fastest cricket bowlers, so they might get selected to play test matches, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 matches and, who knows; maybe even get to be one of the best cricket bowlers of all time.
This is how to get into an Indian cricket team! If you have any teams, tell us in the comments section.
If you are more business-minded, you might be interested in how to contact Ratan Tata.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Get Into an Indian Cricket Team, we recommend you visit our Sports category.