How many players are on a cricket team?
Eleven a side — the “XI”. But it’s the most specialised eleven in all of sport, and two things keep trying to sneak in a twelfth: the old “12th man,” and cricket’s newest rule.
Eleven jobs, top to tail
Tap a batting position to see what that slot in the order is really for.
No other team sport splits its players into such different jobs — the No. 1 and the No. 11 might never do each other’s task all match.
Eleven — but no two alike
Both teams field eleven players. What makes cricket unusual is how differently those eleven spend a match. A side typically blends specialist batters, specialist bowlers, one wicketkeeper and a couple of all-rounders. The batting order runs from the opener facing the hardest new ball to the No. 11 “rabbit,” who may be a world-class bowler and a hopeless batter. No other team game divides its players into such sharply different jobs.
The 12th man — far less than people think
Cricket does name a 12th man, but the role is humble: a substitute fielder who comes on only when someone is injured or off the field. Crucially, the 12th man cannot bat or bowl, and traditionally can’t keep wicket — so they’re famous mostly for carrying out drinks. A separate concussion substitute rule, introduced in 2019, does allow a like-for-like replacement who can bat and bowl, but only when a player is concussed.
The rule that quietly made it twelve
The biggest change came in the Twenty20 game. The Indian Premier League introduced the Impact Player rule in 2023: each side names five substitutes and may bring one on during the match — to bat or bowl in full — in place of a starter. In effect it makes T20 a 12-player game. The very first Impact Player, on 31 March 2023, was Chennai’s Tushar Deshpande.
Not everyone is a fan. India captain Rohit Sharma argued it stunts the development of all-rounders, because teams no longer need players who can do both — “cricket is played by 11 players, not 12.” Which is exactly the tension this whole page sits on.
Common questions
Crease IQ — 5 questions
How many players are in a cricket team on the field?
Sources
- MCC Laws of Cricket — eleven players a side; the substitute (12th man) restrictions.
- Olympics.com / Wisden — the IPL Impact Player rule (introduced 2023; first used 31 March 2023, Tushar Deshpande).
- ESPNcricinfo — Rohit Sharma’s “11 players, not 12” comments; the 2019 concussion-substitute rule.
Related
Eleven players, eleven different jobs — and a sport still arguing about whether the number should quietly become twelve.