Best of the Week: India's 15 million weekend cricketers are changing the game

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It's 8:40 on a Saturday morning, and the parking lot outside a cricket arena in Bengaluru's Marathahalli is already packed. Inside, 27 men, software engineers, sales executives, managers, have traded their weekend lie-in for eight overs of box cricket. Every boundary ricochets off the nets. Every wicket is celebrated like a World Cup moment. It's amateur cricket. But it doesn't feel amateur at all.

Welcome to Gully Cricket 2.0.

For decades, Indians had exactly two ways to play the game: an informal match on the street, or the highly structured world of clubs and academies. The gap between the two was enormous. Box cricket quietly filled it. Instead of scrambling for a full-sized ground and 11 players, you book a turf, gather a few friends, and get two hours of floodlit cricket. Simple as ordering food online.

The format is believed to have first emerged in Mumbai and Ahmedabad in the early 2000s. Today, Mumbai alone has an estimated 500 box-cricket arenas. Across India, that number could be anywhere between 12,000 and 18,000. Platforms like Playo, KheloMore, and District Play now connect players to venues across 250-plus cities.

But the real transformation isn't just about having a place to play. It's about what happens before, during, and after a match.

A thousand kilometres from Bengaluru, the Najafgarh Tennis Ball Cricket Cup in Delhi is being livestreamed on YouTube, complete with real-time run rates, projected scores, and sponsor logos flashing across the screen. The production looks almost indistinguishable from a professional broadcast. The league runs for over two and a half months, with a prize pool of ₹71,000. The organizer's budget stays between ₹2 lakh and ₹2.5 lakh.

Sitting behind all of this is CricHeroes, essentially the digital operating system of India's amateur cricket. Every run, wicket, and strike rate, recorded in real time. Every player, a profile. The platform had about 15 million active users last year. Organized league matches jumped from 150,000 in 2019 to 300,000 in 2025. Total matches crossed 4.9 million.

Amateur cricketers now buy highlight clips of their boundaries for ₹29. They study opponents' stats before games. They chase rankings. Read the full story by Samiksha Goel.

On to the best of Mint’s journalism from this week:

The PFC-REC merger's bond market headache

Two of India's biggest bond issuers became one. The merger of Power Finance Corp. and REC Ltd cleared board approval Sunday, and while it promises a stronger balance sheet and a leaner lending giant, the bond market is already nervous. Mutual funds can only hold 10% of a scheme's assets in a single issuer. Insurers are capped at 15%. Earlier, investors split exposure across two names. Now it all stacks up against one.

Will regulators blink and offer exemptions? Possibly. Industry insiders say both companies are already in talks with the government. Until clarity arrives, expect borrowing costs to nudge higher and bond appetite to stay cautious.

Persistent's Nagarro bet just cost it 11% slump in a day

Persistent Systems went big. Its €1.27 billion acquisition of Germany's Nagarro SE, its largest ever, sent the stock tumbling over 11% Monday to a 52-week low.

The market's reaction is easy to understand. Persistent is betting the acquisition will reduce its dependence on the US, deepen its presence in Europe and help it achieve its $5 billion revenue target by FY31. Nagarro brings geographic reach, scale and exposure to new verticals such as manufacturing and retail.

On paper, the logic is compelling. But investors are focused on the trade-offs. Nagarro's margins lag Persistent's, integration risks are significant, and analysts warn the acquisition could dilute the company's prized 15-18% revenue growth profile. The stock is now down about 30% in 2026 as investors weigh a premium valuation, execution risk and a €1.4 billion bridge loan.

India's markets had a rough first half

It wasn't an easy six months for Indian equities. The Nifty 50 fell 8.7%, its worst first-half performance since 2022. Higher crude prices, a weaker rupee, foreign outflows and an AI-driven reassessment of IT stocks all weighed on sentiment.

The pain wasn't evenly distributed. IT stocks plunged 30%, while FMCG and auto companies also declined. Power stocks rallied 25%, capital goods gained 22%, and healthcare proved relatively resilient.

Yet the market found an anchor. Domestic mutual funds and institutional investors invested a record ₹4.63 trillion, largely offsetting foreign selling. With valuations moderating and earnings expected to improve, the second half could prove more constructive, provided crude prices and geopolitical risks remain contained.

Tata Sons' listing escape hatch just got narrower

Just when it seemed Tata Sons might quietly sidestep a public listing, the Reserve Bank of India stepped back in. A key definition, missing from the central bank's 24 June circular, was restored in a footnote on Wednesday, effective 1 July.

The addition could prove significant. Tata Sons repaid its debt in 2024 and has no direct access to public funds. But listed group companies, including Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Tata Power, own stakes in the holding company. Under the RBI's restored definition, that could make Tata Sons an indirect recipient of public funds, a key consideration for its classification as an upper-layer NBFC.

For now, the clearest route to avoiding a listing remains RBI approval of Tata Sons' application to surrender its core investment company (CIC) licence.

The fuel price cut you're waiting for

Crude oil has quietly slipped back to where it was before the West Asia war, around $70 a barrel. Nayara Energy got the memo first, cutting petrol by ₹5 and diesel by ₹3 a litre across its 7,000 pumps. Commercial LPG got cheaper too, down ₹183.50 for a 19-kg cylinder.

But state-run OMCs, controlling 90% of India's fuel pumps, haven't budged on petrol and diesel prices yet. Their defence? The fuel you're buying today was refined from costlier crude bought months ago. Petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri put a timeline on it. Two to three months, if global prices hold at current levels. OMCs have absorbed ₹2.19 trillion in under-recoveries. They're not in a hurry.

Welfare’s new playbook: Cash now, rights later?

India’s welfare model has shifted dramatically over the past decade, moving from rights-based programmes such as guaranteed jobs and education to technology-driven cash transfers and direct benefits.

A new report by Azim Premji University argues that while digital transfers through the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) framework have improved delivery, they risk weakening universal access to healthcare, education and nutrition. It also warns that rising spending on cash schemes is squeezing state finances, with some states now spending more on transfers than health. The report says India’s social protection spending remains low compared with many peers, raising concerns about long-term human development.

Kotak’s next CEO inherits a bank at a crossroads

Ashok Vaswani’s decision to step down as Kotak Mahindra Bank chief executive after his term ends in December 2026 will mark another milestone in the lender's transition from founder Uday Kotak's leadership.

Vaswani’s tenure was marred by an RBI ban on digital onboarding and credit cards, shrinking card market share, slowing profit growth, compressed margins and high employee attrition, despite healthy balance-sheet expansion. Kotak’s once market-leading shareholder returns have also faded.

While the bank retains strong fundamentals, its next CEO faces a tough task: revive profitability, retain talent and convince investors the bank can thrive beyond its promoter-led legacy.

Why India’s satellite internet launch is still grounded

Satellite internet services from OneWeb, Starlink and Jio-SES remain on hold despite securing licences because the government has yet to finalize spectrum pricing and operating rules.

The biggest hurdle is security. Authorities worry that inter-satellite links could route Indian internet traffic through foreign gateways, limiting oversight. While companies have signed security undertakings and proposed safeguards, the government wants all traffic routed through Indian gateways with lawful interception systems in place.

Experts say the focus should now shift to strict KYC, periodic compliance audits and device tracking, allowing commercial rollout without compromising national security.

India’s electronics makers’ smartphone bet

India’s electronics manufacturers are once again doubling down on smartphone assembly despite slowing demand and razor-thin margins.

Amber Enterprises and Bhagwati Products are expanding partnerships with Chinese brands, even as the domestic smartphone market has stagnated and assembly generates operating margins of barely 1-4%. The sector still relies heavily on mobile manufacturing, with limited local value addition despite booming exports. Companies hope to improve profitability by moving into components and chip design, while awaiting fresh government incentives after the expiry of the smartphone PLI scheme. Until then, growth remains tied to low-margin assembly.

What a leadership reset means for HDFC Bank

HDFC Bank has moved to resolve key leadership uncertainties by appointing Rajiv Kumar as chairman, naming Puneet Sharma as CFO-designate, and paving the way for CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan’s reappointment.

The changes come as the bank battles a 20% stock decline this year despite stable asset quality and improving post-merger metrics. Deposit growth has outpaced loans, the credit-deposit ratio is easing, and merger synergies are beginning to show. With governance concerns fading and the stock trading below historical valuations, investors may shift focus back to the lender's s underlying business strengths.

That’s all from us this week. Subscribe to our newsletters and the website for what’s in the news and beyond it. Write to us at newsletters@livemint.com.