On the fringes, in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pulwama, a young child takes a mighty swing with a bat too heavy for his frame. But his eyes reveal more than play—they carry intention. Inspired by televised matches, he visualises stadium crowds in the silence of his village courtyard. (Photo courtesy @mohammadshahid__)
Evening creeps in, but the game in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur doesn’t pause. Under a sky painted with twilight, silhouettes keep playing, their energy undimmed. These dusk matches are sacred, echoing the prime-time IPL clashes that capture their imagination every evening. (Photo courtesy @navinvatsa)
Further from the camera but closer to the heart of India, a bare patch of earth at Mahal in Jharkhand becomes a cricket ground. Old buildings stand silent as young boys mark their creases with chalk and set up plastic stumps. The dream doesn’t need turf or commentary—only a bat, a ball, and belief. (Photo courtesy @itsss_me_ashutosh)
In a narrow street in Kolkata, surrounded by colonial-era architecture, the game adapts again. A boy in an Mbappé jersey waits to bowl, switching seamlessly between football fandom and cricketing zeal. In places where resources mix freely, passion chooses no boundaries—only direction. (Photo courtesy @creator_of_bengal)
As the game shifts to a sprawling open field in Rajasthan’s Tijara, the setting changes but the fervour remains. A bowler in mid-delivery, a batsman, barefoot and ready—this is cricket stripped to its core. With no umpire in sight, fairness is instinctive, and every match is its own mini-IPL. (Photo courtesy @abhi_saini_18)
With siblings, cousins, and neighbours joining in, this game, in J&K’s Pulwama, becomes a village affair. Elders look on from haystacks, offering advice or just basking in nostalgia. What starts as play becomes a stage for discipline, teamwork, and dreams—a direct inheritance of the IPL’s grandeur. (Photo courtesy @mohammadshahid__)
The lead image on top shows a blur of movement, a bat mid-swing, and dust rising from a pitch in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. This moment captures more than just action. It’s the peak of aspiration, a young man’s form echoing the professionals he’s seen on IPL screens. In villages where resources are few, the elegance of the game survives in instinct and repetition. (Photo courtesy @navinvatsa)
