What Are The Different Types of Cricket?
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The game of cricket has evolved from being a first-class game, to one that now includes one-day matches and a variety of limited-overs tournaments and competitions.
With both men’s and women’s cricket proving popular, there are a number of domestic competitions and major international tournaments and test series to compete for at the top levels of the game.
Let's explore the different types of cricket available today, for which we have cricket predictions, before looking at some of the major tournaments in this popular sport.
How Many Types of Cricket Matches Are There?
At the highest levels, the game of cricket comprises of three main types of match at domestic and international level. They include:
Twenty20 Cricket (2-3 hours)
This newest form of cricket sees teams given just 20 overs to score as many runs as they can. It is an intentionally explosive form of the game where players that can score many boundaries quickly are in high demans. The team with the highest score after 20 overs wins the match. If the run totals are the same then the game is a draw, regardless of the number of wickets each team lost. However a Super Over may now be used to decide a winner in some T20 events.
One-Day Cricket (No more than a day)
In this game, scoring more runs than your opponent in one innings over one day of play is the key. Both teams have a single innings of 50 overs to score as many runs as possible. The team that bats first sets a score and then has to bowl out their opponent before they reach that score, or limit their scoring so at the end of 50 overs, their opponents have not bettered the target set.
These games are also played under floodlights, adding a new dimension to the game and allowing for matches to be played when the light fades.
Some One Day tournaments now use a Super Over in order to decide the winner of a ODI.
First Class and Test Cricket (up to 5 days)
First Class and Test Cricket are played over five days and is considered the ‘purest’ form of the game. It is certainly the oldest, with roots back in the nineteenth century. Teams have two innings and the team that scores the most runs over their two innings, provided they take all their opponents' wickets, wins.
In domestic First Class games, teams play each other in a round-robin format over the course of the season, with bonus points awarded for achieving certain goals in a match, as well as the standard points awarded for winning, drawing or losing the match. The County Championship in England or Australia’s Sheffield Shield are a good example of First Class cricket.
In international Test Match cricket, teams play each other over a series of Tests to win the series. The Ashes is arguably the most famous test match series in the world.
What Are The Most Important Cricket Tournaments?
The most important cricket tournaments/series include both domestic and international events and as such we will group them accordingly:
Domestic Cricket
- The Indian Premier League
- The Big Bash League (Australia)
- The Hundred (England)
- County Championship (England)
- T20 Blast (England)
- One-Day Cup (England)
- The Ranji Trophy (India)
- The Sheffield Shield (Australia)
International Cricket
- Cricket World Cup
- T20 World Cup
- ICC World Test Championship
- ICC Champions Trophy
- The Ashes Series (England vs Australia)
- Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Australia v India test series)
What Are The Types of World Cup in Cricket?
ICC World Test Championship
A relatively new tournament where a team’s test match record over two years is converted into points with 12 full members of the ICC taking part. The top two teams meet in the Final. Australia and South Africa will contest the first ICC World Test Championship Final in June 2025 at Lords Cricket Ground in London.
Cricket World Cup
A one-day tournament which sees teams compete to qualify for the tournament and then play a series of Round Robin games before the top teams in each group qualify for the knockout phase. First contested in 1975, it runs every four years and features 14 teams in the finals tournament.
T20 World Cup
The T20 World Cup is played once every two years and features 20 teams competing in the Finals tournament in the limited overs version of the game. The next tournament is scheduled for 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.
ICC Champions Trophy
A one-day tournament that features the top eight teams in One-Day cricket competing to win this now four-yearly event.
The Major of Cricket Tournaments in India
Cricket is India’s national sport and enjoys a huge following across the subcontinent. Unsurprisingly, there are a number of important cricket tournaments in India, covering all types of cricket.
The most important domestic cricket tournaments in India are as follows:
Indian Premier League (IPL)
Perhaps the most globally recognised of all the Indian domestic cricket tournaments. The IPL has run each year since 2008. It is a Twenty20 Cricket League comprising of ten teams, with matches played from March to May each year.
The IPL is very popular in India and is the most watched sporting tournament in the country. Find out more below to make your IPL predictions and learn more about this championship.
Ten Franchised teams compete in the league each year. Seven of the current ten teams started the first tournament in 2008.
- Chennai Super Kings
- Delhi Capitals
- Kolkata Knight Riders
- Mumbai Indians
- Punjab Kings
- Rajasthan Royals
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru
They were joined by the following teams in the years shown below.
- Sunrisers Hyderabad (2013)
- Lucknow Super Giants (2022)
- Gujarat Titans (2022)
A total of five other teams have competed in the IPL, but have since folded.
- Deccan Chargers (2008-2012)
- Kochi Tuskers Kerala (2011)
- Pune Warriors India (2011-2013)
- Pune Rising Supergiant (2016-2018)
- Gujarat Lions (2016-2018)
The Ranji Trophy
India’s First Class cricket championship is the Ranji Trophy. First contested in 1934-35, it features 38 teams from different territories and states around the country. 32 teams contest the Ranji Trophy and six teams play for the Ranji Trophy Plate. Two teams can earn promotion from the Plate Group into the Ranji Trophy Groups each season, with the two teams with the worst records relegated from the Ranji Trophy Groups.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy
This is the main One-Day (50-overs) cricket competition in India. It is contested by the same 38 teams that compete in the Ranji Trophy and Ranji Trophy Plate. The tournament was inaugurated in 1993/94 and its format changed in the 2004/05 tournament with a playoff involving semi-finals and a final used to decide the national champion.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Lastly, the final tournament the 38 major Indian cricket teams can compete for in a season is the Twenty20 cricket tournament the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. First played in 2006/07, the tournament features both a Round-Robin and knockout phase.
The Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy are all run by the BCCI, whereas the IPL is a standalone tournament with franchised teams and different rules regarding player selection, wages etc.
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