When the Indian T20 league kicked off in 2008, it felt like cricket had suddenly entered a new era.

Before that, most of us followed cricket through countries, legends, and big international rivalries. Then franchise cricket came in and created something completely different: city loyalty, player auctions, salary caps, scouting, brand identity, fan wars, and squads built like sports dynasties.

A player could be a national hero one month and then become the face of a rival city franchise the next. Young domestic players suddenly had a platform to become household names. Overseas stars became part of Indian cricket culture. Analytics, matchups, death bowling specialists, finishers, powerplay hitters, impact players — everything became more tactical and more managerial.

That culture shift is one of the big inspirations behind Cricket Management Tycoon.

Right now, the game’s Indian T20 management mode is built around the classic 8-team structure inspired by the 2008 era. I wanted to capture that original feeling: auctions, rivalries, domestic scouting, building a squad from scratch, and trying to create a franchise identity.

But now I’m thinking about expansion.

Would players prefer:

Option A: 10-team format
Add two new expansion-style teams, inspired by the modern league evolution. This keeps the tournament balanced, adds more auction chaos, and gives more domestic players a chance to break through.

Option B: 12-team format
Go bigger and create a full alternate-universe Indian T20 league with even more regions, more scouting depth, more squad-building pressure, and a larger league calendar.

For the two extra teams, I’m currently thinking about adding fictional teams inspired by:

1. Gujarat / Ahmedabad region — strong cricket market, modern franchise feel, aggressive recruitment identity.
2. Lucknow / Uttar Pradesh region — massive player base, strong northern identity, great potential for youth scouting and domestic talent.

If the game eventually goes to 12 teams, I’d love to add two more regions like Kerala/Kochi, Pune, Indore, or maybe even a North-East inspired franchise to make the league feel more national.

What would you prefer as a player?

Keep it classic with 8?
Expand naturally to 10?
Or go full chaos with 12 teams?

Cricket Management Tycoon is available on Steam - Cricket Management Tycoon on Steam

Hi everyone,

Cricket Management Tycoon releases tomorrow on Steam.

Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4717430/Cricket_Management_Tycoon/

This is a cricket management simulation game where you take control of a cricket team and try to build a long-term dynasty through smart recruitment, squad building, training, tactics, and financial decisions.

The game was inspired by classic cricket management games like Cricket Captain 2006, but I wanted to expand the idea with more modern sports-management and club-building systems.

What you can do in the game

• Build and manage your cricket squad
• Recruit players through auctions and transfers
• Develop players through training and performance
• Manage player roles, form, fitness, and squad balance
• Make tactical match decisions
• Handle budgets and long-term planning
• Compete across seasons
• Try to build a dominant cricket dynasty

Why I built this

Cricket has so much strategy beyond the match itself: selection, auctions, form, player development, captaincy, tactics, budgets, and long-term squad planning.

I wanted to create a game that focuses on those decisions.

Do you spend big on a star player?
Do you invest in young talent?
Do you build around batting depth, bowling strength, or all-round balance?
Can you manage the squad well enough to win consistently across seasons?

That is the core idea behind Cricket Management Tycoon.

Official community

This subreddit, r/CricketTycoon, will be the official community for the game.

I’ll use it for:

• Release updates
• Patch notes
• Bug reports
• Feature requests
• Screenshots
• Roadmap discussions
• Future update and DLC news

I’m also working on an Animation Engine, which may become a future DLC or major update depending on development progress and player feedback.

Wishlist before launch

If the game looks interesting, wishlisting it before release would really help.

Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4717430/Cricket_Management_Tycoon/

Thanks to everyone following the project. Tomorrow is release day, and I’m excited to finally share the game.

I’m currently developing the Test match AI for my cricket management game, and it has made me realize how different long-format cricket is from T20 logic.

In T20, the AI can be aggressive almost all the time. But in Tests, it has to think about:

• batting tempo across multiple sessions
• when to defend, rotate, or counterattack
• bowler fatigue
• field settings
• line and length plans
• protecting a set batter
• attacking a new batter
• when to chase wickets vs control run rate
• match situation across hundreds of overs

For example, in this screenshot I’m working on bowler plans against two batters with different aggression levels, while also tracking overs left in the match. The idea is that the AI should not just “simulate numbers,” but actually feel like a captain making decisions over time.

One thing I’m experimenting with is making the AI change plans based on batter confidence, score, wickets, session state, and bowler type.

For cricket fans:
What makes Test match AI feel realistic to you?

Would you prefer an AI that plays more conservatively like real long-format cricket, or one that creates more drama and results even if it is less realistic?

I’d love feedback from anyone who plays cricket management games or follows Test cricket closely.