Leg cricket


Leg cricket is a sport played between two teams of eleven players on a circular ground with a radius between 80 and 120 feet. The game is played in South Asian countries like India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
The leg cricket involves using legs while the other side fields. The bowler rolls down the ball using under-arm bowling and the legsman have to hit the ball to score runs. A legsman can score a four or a six run by kicking the ball out of the boundary line.

History

Leg cricket game was a well known recreation game. It was played in different part of India with their own rules. It was played extensively in Saint francis high school ground Aurangabad Maharashtra in the year 1999 to 2002 and was introduced to students by a local boy named Mehul Sorathiya. It became so popular that it is still played in many schools of Aurangabad. In 2005 Mr.S. Nagraj, a physical education teacher in Bangalore introduce this games to the school children of the town for free of cost as a source of physical fitness. It was played in almost all part of India but there were no common or universal rules for this game. Mr. Jogender Prasad Verma, a Physical Education teacher in Delhi, was working on leg cricket for a long time and finally after various practical season and research he introduced the official rule book of leg cricket in 2010. This is the effort of Mr. Verma and his team that at present Leg Cricket game is played in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Florida and Ghana . Mr. J. P. VERMA, a Physical Education Teacher in Delhi and Mr. S. Nagraj, a physical education teacher in Banglore is known as the father of the leg cricket game. Mr. Verma is the Present Secretary of International Leg Cricket Council and .

Specifications

The leg cricket is played between two team of 11 playing and 4 extra players. It is played on a circular ground with a radius between 80 and 120 feet. The pitch is 8 feet wide and 42 ft to 48 ft long,. The distance in stumps is 12 inches.
;Pitch
CategoriesBoysGirlsMix
Under-12 Mini44 feet44 feet44 feet
Under-14 Sub Junior44 feet44 feet44 feet
Under-17 Junior46 feet46 feet46 feet
Under-19 Senior48 feet48 feet48 feet
Men's/Women's48 feet48 feet48 feet

;Boundary
CategoriesBoysGirlsMix
Under-12 Mini70 feet70 feet70 feet
Under-14 Sub Junior80 feet80 feet80 feet
Under-17 Junior90 feet85 feet90 feet
Under-19 Senior100 feet90 feet100 feet
Men's/Women's120 feet100 feet120 feet

;Stumps
Width of the 3 stumps12 inches, 1 feet
Height of the 3 stumps24–30 inches, 2–2.5 feet

Federation

At International level leg cricket is governed and promoted by International Leg Cricket Council.
This International body is headed by Shri Surender Kumar as a President and Shri Joginder Prasad Verma as a Secretary General.
In India, the Leg Cricket Federation of India is an apex governing body, which was formed in 2011. It is registered under Societies Registration Act, 1860 and affiliated with the International Leg Cricket Council. Apart from India, leg cricket is famous in Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Florida, Ghana, and Pakistan.

Competitions

National Championship in India: In July 2012, the Senior National T-10, Leg Cricket Championship was organised by Leg Cricket Federation of India at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium at Bawana, Delhi where total 24 teams of boys and girls participated. Sh. Surender Kumar, M.L.A. & Parliamentary Secretary to C.M., Delhi was the Chief Guest of Opening Ceremony and Satpal Singh, an Olympian Wrestler and the president of School Games Federation of India was the chief guest of second day's championship. Since 2012 Leg Cricket Federation India has organized 6 National games at various city and states in India e.g., Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Haryna, Uttar Pardesh, and Madhya Pardesh.
International Championships: India were the winners of the first Indo Nepal T-10 Leg Cricket Series, which was held in July 2013 and runners-up at the 1st South Asian Championship at Kathmandu, Nepal in 2016. There were there national championships and two Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan Series of leg cricket conducted between 2012 and 2015.Mr. Dharmender of Delhi is known as the sixer machine of leg cricket game. His highest score is 175 in six overs.
The 5th National T20 leg Cricket Championship was held at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh.
In January 2017, Karnataka team won by securing 211 runs, and Odisha Leg Cricket team secured 3rd position in the 5th National T10 Leg Cricket Championship, held in New Delhi. Chandan Ray is the present captain of the Indian leg cricket team.