The only country in the world where cricket is not a game but a religion, is India. The country in the world that has one of the highest number of rummy playing players, is India. At first glance, you may not see any similarities in these 2 games, because Cricket requires a pitch to play on, a bat and a ball, as the bare minimum. Whereas in rummy, even if you don’t have the 52-cards set, you can still play it online using any of the rummy apps. So in what aspects are these 2 game similar?

The big word – Skills

You could win only a couple of games on luck. Beyond that, you need skills to win in rummy and cricket. In cricket, while batting you need good hand-eye coordination, anticipate the bowler’s spin, pitch and how/where it will hit your bat, knack to hit the ball between fielders, and play according to the pitch. As a fielder you need agility and athleticism to stop the ball at any cost. As a bowler, you must take wickets or stop the flow of runs, deceive the batsman. All three roles need a good vision of the ball and analysis of the game to plan for the next few balls/overs.

In rummy game, you need great observation of opponents’ gameplay, analysis and planning for your next one or few moves. You must make a pure sequence at the earliest, keep the points to a minimum, but make all sets/sequences before your opponents and do a valid declaration to win. All of this won’t be possible without skills.

Multiple Formats

Rummy has so many variations in it. The ones that are offered by various online rummy platforms in India are: 10, 13, 21, and 27 cards rummy. Points rummy, Pool rummy, and Deals rummy. Apart from these, many other localized variations of rummy exist in the world.

Same goes with cricket. At the international level, 3 formats are played: T20 cricket having 20 overs in an innings, One Day Internationals (ODIs) having 50 overs in an innings, Test Cricket that goes on for 5 days and have 90 overs played in a day. We also have some national level cricket leagues that have 10 overs in an innings, or “The Hundred”, that has 100 balls bowled in an innings. Even local leagues have other variations like 5-overs a side, etc.

Never say never

Picture this: you are playing a game of rummy or cricket and just after half the game is over, you are certain of a defeat. But, both the games are known to be games of glorious uncertainties. In T20 cricket, you can go from a loser to winner in just 1-2 overs if you hit 20-30 runs or take quick 2-3 wickets. In Test cricket too, 1 session (of 30 overs) can change the game 180 degree for you.

Likewise, even in Indian rummy, when you get that 1 elusive card, you can do a valid show and win the game. Sometimes, it could be the joker card, sometimes, you may get 2-3 cards in succession and surge ahead of your opponents to do a valid show. The main point is, rummy and cricket both give you ample of chances/possibilities to make a comeback. You should never give up.

Factors out of your control

You just can’t ensure a few things in rummy and cricket. For example, how the pitch will behave, the toss, the weather conditions, etc. in cricket. These factors do affect a cricket match, though not the final result. Same goes for rummy, especially the initial dealing of cards. Sometimes players may not get the cards they wanted, cards that will make it easy for them to do a valid show before others. But players have won in rummy even from such situations.

Ohh, one more similarity between cricket and rummy – you are guaranteed to get quality entertainment from them, whether you are just a spectator or a player. Even after knowing these similarities of rummy and cricket, there’s one big reason why rummy should be preferred over cricket. Out of lakhs of dreams to play for the Indian national cricket team, only 11 players can make it at a time. No such limitation exists in Indian rummy, there’s room for everybody! You can become a top player in rummy and win in lakhs.