Rules
Powerplays and fielding restrictions
Why only two fielders can stand outside the circle in the first six overs, how ODI and T20 powerplays differ, and what changes in a rain-shortened game.
Read the guide
Indian cricket, explained
Understand every over, without the jargon
Short, friendly guides to the rules and numbers you hear in every match — powerplays, DRS, strike rate, net run rate and the Impact Player rule. Written for people who are new to cricket or simply want to know what the commentators mean.
Five guides
Start with the things that confuse new fans most
Each guide takes about five minutes to read and explains one rule or statistic with worked examples, tables and a few tips for watching the next match.
Technology
DRS explained
How the Decision Review System works, what Umpire's Call really means, and why captains save their reviews for the moments that matter.
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Statistics
Strike rate explained
The simple maths behind batting and bowling strike rate, what counts as a good number in each format, and how to read it alongside average and economy.
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Points tables
Net run rate explained
How NRR is calculated, why a team that is bowled out is charged the full twenty overs, and what your side needs to do to overtake a rival.
Read the guide
IPL
The Impact Player rule
The IPL's tactical substitution explained: when a team can use it, who is eligible, how it pushed scores past 250 and why some senior players dislike it.
Read the guide
Quick glossary
Eight terms you will hear in every match
Commentators rarely stop to define these. Here are the short versions, so the guides above make sense from the first paragraph.
Over
Six legal deliveries bowled by one bowler from one end. A T20 innings has 20 overs, an ODI has 50.
Wide
A ball bowled too far from the batter to be hit with a normal shot. The batting side gets one run and the ball is bowled again.
No-ball
An illegal delivery, most often because the bowler's front foot lands over the crease. One penalty run, the ball is re-bowled and in T20s and ODIs the next ball is a free hit.
Free hit
A delivery on which the batter cannot be dismissed by the bowler — only by a run out — so they can swing without risk.
Yorker
A fast delivery aimed at the batter's feet or the base of the stumps. Very hard to hit for runs, so it is the go-to ball at the death.
Googly
A wrist-spinner's delivery that spins the "wrong" way — from off to leg for a right-handed batter — while looking like a normal leg break.
Maiden
An over in which the bowler concedes no runs at all. Rare in T20 cricket and worth celebrating when it happens.
Super Over
A one-over-per-side shoot-out used to settle a T20 or ODI that ends with both teams on the same score.