abstract

Cricket has seen a significant shift from being a game focused on technique and patience to one that thrives on high energy and power. This evolution has ramped up the physical, physiological, and psychological demands on players compared to earlier times. While cricket enjoys immense popularity, especially in India, it hasn't received as much scientific scrutiny as other major team sports. Most of the research that does exist tends to focus on male, international, or professional players, leaving college-level cricketers—particularly women—largely overlooked. This review brings together findings from a study that looked at 200 college cricketers (100 men and 100 women, aged 19–22) from an Intercollegiate Tournament at an Indian university. The study explored how fifteen different factors across physical, physiological, and psychological areas relate to Playing Ability, which was assessed using the Expert Rating Method. Through Pearson correlation and forward-selection multiple regression, the research revealed that for male cricketers, Explosive Power, Shoulder Strength, VO₂ Max, Achievement Motivation, State Anxiety, and Self-Concept were significant predictors of Playing Ability, explaining 44.1% of the variance. For female cricketers, the predictors included Self-Concept, Speed, State Anxiety, Explosive Power, Grip Strength, Aggression, Peak Flow Rate, and Flexibility, accounting for 53.0% of the variance. Notably, Explosive Power, Self-Concept, and State Anxiety were significant predictors for both genders. This review places these findings within the context of existing sports science literature, emphasizes the unique aspects of cricketing talent across genders, and suggests implications for identifying talent, designing training programs, and guiding future research.