Ever wondered why there’s no official cricket game of the ICC despite the sport expanding rapidly across nations? Well Cricket fans, here’s some good news for you. ICC Cricket Mobile, the first fully licensed mobile cricket game of the International Cricket Council, is now available for download. We are also going to share some valuable tips and tricks to ace both as a batsman and a bowler in this ICC Cricket Mobile Beginners Guide.
In this ICC Cricket Mobile Beginners Guide, we are going to do a walkthrough of all the Game Modes that are accessible right now, and the additional modes/features that will be available once the game releases fully. From the house of Indian video game developer nCore, it promises to give an enthralling cricketing experience to all fans out there and give them the look and feel of a real-life international match. Star Sports, which is rated as one of India’s leading sports networks has also collaborated with nCore in this venture.
Gameplay Overview
ICC Cricket Game is a fully licensed cricket game that lets you play as/against the top 10 Cricketing nations right now. 3 cricket stadiums from across the Globe are available to pick from right now, namely, Lucknow, Dharamshala, and London. The stadiums are either available for free or can be unlocked for a game, by watching an ad.
Users can pick a stadium and a pitch that they like (Green, Hard or Dusty), as well as the time of day they want. Additionally, you can hear live commentary of the games that you play, from your preferred celebrity pundit, including Ian Bishop, Jatin Sapru, and others yet to be announced.
As of now, one can only compete in limited overs games against the AI. Users have the choice to pick from 2,5 and 10 over games. Each match gives a short yet refreshing experience owing to the high-definition graphics, motion capture, and real-life cut-scenes before and after a ball gets bowled. Users can test their favorite cricket players on the pitch by leading an all-star ICC side to take on rival teams.
They can develop real-time strategies by rotating the bowlers and making the field placements according to the game situation and rise to the top. However, team management and creation have not been added to the game yet. You need to play every game right now with the default 11-men squad that is available.
Understanding the Game Modes
The game is available to play across two game modes right now. Let us know about them in detail.
Quick Match
This is a mode that lets you decide your opponent i.e., which team amongst the top 10 nations you want to play against. You can choose the type of pitch you want to play in, the time of the day, and also the stadium you want to play at from the choices available.
Additionally, you can even pick the match length in this game mode. As discussed above, matches can be of 2,5, and 10 overs per inning only. Always start with the quick match mode as you would need some time to grasp the screen controls.
Tournaments
The Tournament mode gives you a feel of battling it out against your arch rivals in a tournament-like competitive setup. Unlike, the Quick Match Mode you can only choose the team you want to play as in this mode. The opponents that you are going to take on would be according to the groupings and fixtures decided by the AI.
However, if you’re not happy with the fixtures and want to randomize them, you can always do that by clicking on reset tournaments till the time you get the opponent that you long to play against in the Group stages. The opponents that you are going to face after qualifying for the Semis, however, are solely under the control of the AI. You are also not in control of the number of overs per inning. There are 3 International Tournament Modes in the Game.
ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup tournament replicates the 50-over World Cup tournament that is played after every 4 years. Following the latest ICC Rules, there are no groupings in this mode. Your side has to take on against all the other 9 nations.
The top 4 teams make it to the Semi-Finals. The match fixtures would be of the recently concluded 2019 Cricket World Cup by default. If you want to toggle the game fixtures, you can always do that by resetting the tournament just as we said before. However, it would be of no use, since you have to face every side. Games are of 5 overs per inning.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup tournament replicates the 20-over World Cup tournament that is played after every 2 years. Unlike the 50-over format, we have groupings in this mode. The team groupings and match fixtures would be of the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020, by default.
However, you can randomize the groupings and matches by resetting the Tournament. The top 2 teams of Groups A and B qualify for the Semis. Each game would be of 2 overs per inning.
ICC Champions Trophy 2013
This is an upcoming Tournament mode in the game that would replicate the ICC Champions Trophy tournament.
Upcoming future Game Modes
Some crazy in-game modes and features have been planned by the developers of ICC Cricket Mobile, which will be available once the game is launched fully. Let us have a glance at them next.
- World Tour: This in-game mode would allow users to play a multi-format series against any of the top 10 cricketing nations by visiting their homes. Users can get the feel of defeating a team in their backyard once this feature gets added.
- NPL: As per speculations, this would replicate the Indian Premier League. Users can experience the joy of playing franchise cricket on their mobile screens, once this Game mode is added.
- My Teams: As of now, one cannot build and manage a Team. You have to play with the default 11 and do not even have the luxury of choosing your favorite 11. However, once this feature is added, one can build their Dream Team and maybe field their desired XI even against users online.
- Multiplayer: With the addition of this mode, users will be able to compete against users online. This would increase the competitiveness of this game as users would get the opportunity to test their skills against users from across the globe and rise the ranks.
ICC Cricket Mobile Beginners Guide: Tips and Tricks
This is a bonus section from us that would allow newbies to get a hang of the basic in-game controls and enlighten them with some cheats to win against the AI. What follows next are some useful tips and tricks in our guide from our experience of playing ICC Cricket Mobile.
1. Be the Batting maestro
Batting in ICC Cricket mobile is a lot easier as compared to other mobile cricket games. You just need to align your batsman in the line of the ball and make sure to time that ball perfectly. However, make sure to watch the field setting carefully before choosing the region through which you want to play the stroke.
2. Keep a close eye on the Pitch marker
The first and foremost thing that a batter needs to do before facing a delivery, is to take guard. While you are taking guard, make sure to watch the pitch marker closely and align your batsman accordingly by tapping on the left and right arrows. Make sure that you move your batsman in line with the ball, by following the pitch marker so that you can hit the ball with accuracy.
3. Look at the field placement before choosing your shot-direction
Next up, you need to choose the direction of your shot by moving the D-Pad arrows on the Field Map. Make sure to look at the fielders carefully before choosing the shot direction and make sure that the arrowhead points in a vacant region.
If you plan to go for a lofted shot, make sure that you choose your shot direction in such a way that you are miles away from any fielder. If you direction your lofted shot in a region that is guarded by a fielder or two, a mishit would result in the ball going into the hands of that fielder. One should additionally follow the pitch marker before deciding on the shot region.
4. Timing is the Key
The key to scoring runs in this game is timing. You need to time your stroke/loft to perfection. When the bowler releases the ball from his bowling arm, the ball will be encircled by an outer ring that would change colors from red-orange-green.
You need to tap on the Stroke or Loft button immediately after the outer ring turns Green to ensure proper timing on that. You need to be patient and wait till that moment or else you will mistime the ball in the hands of the fielder. The Orange region denotes fairly good timing while the red region denotes poor timing. Remember the following while picking your shots:
- When pitched up, the circle turns Orange once the ball hits the floor. When on a Yorker length, you have to wait till the end moment for the outer circle to turn green. However, make sure to be proactive and hit the shot buttons immediately after the ring turns green. If you delay your shot any further, you will end up missing the ball.
- You can change the batting settings to swipe controls if that suits your playstyle, by navigating to the Settings menu. However, we would recommend you to stick to the D-Pad controls as they are more convenient to use and won’t involve extra work-out of your fingers.
5. Be the Bowling Wizard
Unlike Batting, Bowling is a tad difficult in ICC Cricket Mobile. The line of your delivery, the amount of pace on it, and the deviation(swing/spin) on it would all depend on how you roll your fingers on the screen. Here are some quick bowling tips when you are defending targets.
6. Refrain from Bowling Bouncers and Shorter Lengths
To pick your delivery length, you just need to tap anywhere on the pitch map as the cursor goes up and down. The length at which you stop the cursor is your bowling length for that particular delivery. Do not try bouncers and shorter-length deliveries against the AI as you will be hammered most of the time.
You cannot afford to leak runs, especially in such short formats. Try hitting the Good Length area consistently or go for the Yorker length. They are not that easily picked by the AI in this game.
7. Choose the Bowling line according to the field setup
In ICC Cricket Mobile, you need to choose your line by swiping from the bowler’s end to the batsman’s end. One must choose the line of delivery according to the field plan. In powerplay overs, you have field restrictions so make sure to make the batter play in the region where the boundary has been guarded.
If instead a fielder is guarding the leg-side boundary and the boundary line on the off is not guarded by fielders, make sure to pitch the ball around the middle and leg to make the batsman play on the leg-side to ensure that some runs are saved and even keep the chances of catching open if the opposition batsman aims a lofted shot.
8. Vary the pace according to the Bowler
The pace on a given delivery in ICC Cricket Mobile is dependent on how fast you swipe from the bowler’s end to the batsman’s end. When you are bowling with a fast bowler, you need to be a tad quicker and while bowling with a spinner, try to keep things slow. Additionally, you should constantly look to vary the pace with each delivery as that would make it difficult for the AI to pick a delivery and increase the chances of a mishit.
9. Be accurate with the Field placements
When you are bowling a particular delivery, make sure that you have the fielders in the right position for that delivery. Say for instance you bowl a short ball around off, then you must make sure that you have fielders guarding the offside boundary in catching positions. Additionally, once the powerplay restrictions are lifted, do not forget to spread the field as you need to stop boundaries as much as possible, especially while defending as the AI would always look to come hard against you.
Final Thoughts
ICC Cricket Mobile looks promising even in this Early Access Stage. This game could potentially bring about a new dimension in this world of mobile cricket. The addition of Online Matchmakings and Team Management features would add the icing to the cake. If they keep the entries to all tournaments and leagues free, it and give stiff competition to the likes of Real Cricket which has dominated thus far.
The addition of White Ball Cricket and an option to elongate the shorter format games to 50 overs could further push up its popularity, provided it is in the plans of the developer house. That’s it, all the basic tips covered, if you find any hassle whatsoever in the game, you can always fall back to this ICC Cricket Mobile Beginners Guide for help. Don’t worry, like always we have got you!
That’s all from us for the ICC Cricket Mobile Beginners Guide! Did you find our ICC Cricket Mobile beginners guide helpful? Do let us know in the comments!
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