A cricket journalist is building a Reddit for amateur cricketers

Photo credit: Clive Darra .

To say that cricket is a popular sport in South Asia would be a bit of an understatement. Millions of fans adore it – swashbuckling players are idolized, and highly anticipated matches such as India versus Pakistan attract record audiences. Cricket is taken very seriously.

As mainstream media coverage invariably focuses on professional cricket, amateur leagues are ignored. Records for grassroots cricket are few and far between. There are no statistics or match reports for teams on a school or university level. This means a very large community is overlooked.

That’s the problem KheloKricket is solving. The site is a community for amateur players in Pakistan, offering news, match results, and visibility for cricketers fighting their way to the top.

Hadeel Obaid, co-founder of KheloKricket, is a cricket journalist who has written for Dawn, Express Tribune, and Cricinfo. She is wildly passionate about the game.

Hadeel Obaid, co-founder KheloKricket

Hadeel describes her startup as a “project with heart.” The idea was conceptualized after she visited a number of schools and universities during field research for another cricket-related project. During conversations with students, she understood that budding players wanted to be discovered and their stories heard. They wanted a platform where they could boast about their exploits on the pitch. Popular sites like Cricinfo concentrated mostly on international players, leaving a gap to be filled.

“I couldn’t believe that there were hundreds of matches taking place every week and nothing to show for it,” explains Hadeel. “This is a sport we identify with the most – it brings out the manic fighter in us. How could nobody be watching, or there be no place where you could boast about your wickets?”

Building community

Since launch late last year, the startup has grown to a community of 350 registered teams with over 5,000 players. Its Facebook page has grown organically to over 30,000 likes. Hadeel admits she was unsure in the early stages whether the idea would catch on, but says the response has been “overwhelmingly positive.”

The site itself is a vast repository of news, information, and analysis reflecting amateur cricket matches. Teams are neatly sorted according to their category – school, university, or company. There’s a section for video highlights and profiles of upcoming players. Hadeel says there are plans to broadcast live matches soon.

KheloKricket makes money from advertising, apparel and equipment ecommerce, and organizing its own amateur league. Its development and growth has been assisted by Taimur Khan, a Rocket Internet veteran who helped launch Kaymu in Sri Lanka.