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We really can’t say it is a team sport. Any sport that automatically invokes team play is classified as a team sport. A team sport is one where a person’s success or failure is dependent on one to many team players.
Take for example, a team game like basketball. It is next to impossible for a player to single-handedly navigate through all opponents towards the basket. He needs the help of many players. His team-mates understand his intentions and move accordingly. There is a lot of co-ordination and team work here.
But cricket is often a one-player event. In test cricket, a single bowler can be destructive. He can take all or most of the wickets in the match. A batsman can single-handedly turn the fortunes of a match with one single innings. In cricket, the whole team may rely on a particular player. The absence of the player on most times affects the outcome of the match.
It is seldom that cricket is played as a team. Some famous teams like Australia play cricket as a team sport. They rely less on individuals and more on the team. Their approach is based on plans, where each team member executes a plan. They have short term and long term plans during a match.
The Australian cricket team is probably the only team in world cricket that made cricket look like a team sport. There were no ”stars” in the team. Rather, the team played as a cohesive unit and made the team a star.
