East Indian Kansas university students come together each week to play cricket on the KU campus. The sport is unfamiliar to many Americans.

Editor’s note: Reporter Mark Boyle takes us behind the scenes of news stories in the area. This week, Mark puts his sports knowledge to the test trying to comprehend the sport of cricket. Several Kansas University students play each week on campus and are hoping to introduce more people to the sport widely popular overseas.

The bowler bowls the ball to the batter, while the batter tries to protect the wickets. The wicket keeper stands by to catch the ball if it passes the batter and also to help throw out runners.

Confused yet? You’re not alone.

Cricket is an international sport but has very little presence here in the United States.

Many in the mainstream American sports scene aren’t even familiar with the rules, game play or duration of a cricket match.

Unlike regulation football, basketball or hockey games, which have set time periods, cricket matches can last upward of a week in some cases.

“There are three different versions, but the Test Match can last 5 days,” said Aravind Kumar Ilangovan, a local cricket player and former KU student. “It’s about your passion and love toward the game. If you love it, then you won’t mind playing five hours, five days, five weeks or five years, right?”

Love for the sport is exactly what a group of East Indian KU students has, and it’s the reason they get together each week west of KU’s Lied Center to play.

“This is one of the sports that everyone likes in India,” said Abijidh Kumar. “The best part about this sport is you can adapt it. For example, if you have a big field, you can play a longer version of the game; if you have a small place, then you can play a smaller version of the game.”

Much like any other sport, the best way to learn it is to play. In short, cricket is played on an oval field, with an area called the pitch in the middle. Cricket is played with two teams of 11 and two umpires. Unlike baseball bats, cricket bats are oblong and much lighter weight.

Teams score by getting runs. Runs are scored by a batter hitting the ball and running to the other wicket without being thrown out. The nonbatting batsmen must run to the opposite wicket as the hitting batter. The batsmen can run as many times as they like until they are out. Outs are made by hitting the wicket before the runner can reach the stump. Runs can also be scored by hitting the ball past the boundary. When this is done, 6 runs are scored.

It’s a high-scoring sport — sometimes teams rack up 200 to 300 runs.

Cricket is also something that these students have grown up playing and believe others should try.

“You can learn, it’s not a very tough game,” said Ilangovan. “It has a few rules, but the basics are batting, bowling and learning to catch the ball.”

To watch a match or learn how to play, contact the club at arvindhvit@gmail.com.