Howzzat! Cricket goes indoors across Delhi-NCR

Saurabh Kumar, 19, asks Anil Kumar to “bowl” fast. Anil, who stands on a high stool behind a bowling machine, adjusts the controls and the next delivery to Saurabh is a bouncer outside the off stump at 150 kmph. Kumar hits the ball on the up; the sound of the shot coming from the middle of the bat reverberates across the enclosed hall.

“Now increase the bounce a bit but maintain the speed,” Saurabh, happy with the cracking shot he has just played, tells the bowling machine operator.

We are inside Imperium Sports Arena, a basement cricket academy in the bustling Malviya Nagar market and one of the first indoor cricket academies in the city.

Although the temperature outside is hovering above almost 44°C, it is cool inside the arena, which has a shop replete with cricketing gear, a reception with large-screen TV and upholstered sofas, where a few young cricketers are awaiting their turn at what they call “customised batting practice”.

Imperium is one of the many pay-and-play indoor cricket establishments that have sprung up across Delhi-NCR over the past year, giving rise to an indoor cricket coaching culture in the city, and attracting players from far and wide.

Saurabh Kumar, a college student, for example, has come all the way from Motihari in Bihar to join the sports academy in Malviya Nagar.

“It is too hot outside these days and I was not able to devote as much time to my batting practice as I wanted. There are no such indoor academies in Bihar, so I came to Delhi,” says Saurabh at the end of the one-hour a session for which he had paid Rs 300. “I am here to practice playing the fast, rising delivery on the up. The machine can challenge your ability to face fast bowling, unlike any bowler.”

Open from early morning to late in the night, many of these indoor cricket arenas are located not just in basements, but also on top floors of commercial complexes.

“Fifty per cent of our clients are aspiring cricketers enrolled in various outdoor cricket academies and they come here for extra practice. The rest are young executives who play for corporate teams, whose numbers have risen exponentially in the past few years,” says Varun Chowdhry, who owns Imperium.

He and other founders of such academies – some call themselves “cricket enthusiasts” and others, “coaches” — say there is a rising demand for indoor cricket facilities, what with parental concern regarding the growing pollution, and the increasing trend of competitive corporate cricket.

“Companies are getting into cricket like never before, fuelling demand for more facilities. This has led to agricultural fields being turned into well-equipped cricket grounds on the outskirts of Gurgaon, Faridabad, and Noida,” says Vishal Sansanwal, who owns an indoor cricket facility in Dwarka. “Corporate executives play competitive cricket and so want to practice after office hours. For some, this is part of their fitness regimen.”

He is not exaggerating. There are about 30 private cricket grounds on the outskirts of Gurgaon and Noida, many of them boasting a green outfield, well-prepared pitch, small pavilions, and spectator galleries as well. And they cater to the growing number of corporate leagues. “Every company has several teams and they are pretty particular about their practice. These corporate cricketers are driving the growth of these indoor practice facilities,” says Chowdhry.

Rishit Arora, who owns a team called Game Changers that has professionals from different backgrounds, says, “These indoor academies are a place for focused practice. I have joined one of them for sorting out my weakness in tackling bouncers.”

In fact, some indoor cricket arenas such as Striker Indoor Cricket Academy in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, which opened last year, don’t just have turf pitches and cricket coaches, but also a multi-specialty gym, with showers and washrooms attached.

“The way people play sports has changed completely. Ours is a place for those who are both cricket and fitness freaks,” says Ravi Madan, director, Striker Sports.

Maninderjit Singh, a co-founder of Future India Indoor Sports Academy in west Delhi’s Mansarover Garden that opened last month, believes that it is the lack of playgrounds in the city, which has led to a lot of sports, including cricket, moving indoors.

“The city is increasingly getting congested and parks and playgrounds in Delhi are just not enough. So, the demand for indoor facilities will only rise,” he says. The white walls of his indoor facility have the pictures of cricket superstars in action.

Many young cricketers — or to be more specific batsmen — say it is not just the lack of grounds but also lack of bowlers in a country where everyone wants to be a batsman that make these indoor academies with automated bowling machines popular.

“I do not find friends or fellow players at my outdoor academy to bowl to me for an hour at a stretch at high speed, so I come here,” says Shiv Shankar Arora, 14, padding up at Imperium.

Anil Patel, who manages Crickline, an air-conditioned cricket facility in Noida, says most of his clients are budding cricketers, who come with their parents. “Some of our players who practised here went on to play first-class cricket, and also IPL. The monsoon is our busiest season,” he says. “For many clients, an indoor cricket session is both a sport and a medium of entertainment.”

First Published: Jun 09, 2019 04:33 IST