We called it a practice match, but no one really treated it like one.

There were no whites. No proper pitch. No scoreboard. Just a group of us meeting after work, borrowing stumps from someone’s house, arguing about teams, and deciding rules on the spot. The kind of game where people say, “chill yaar, it’s just practice.”

That day, we were using an ss poly soft cricket ball.

I remember thinking it would be one of those casual games where technique doesn’t matter. Swing hard, hit far, laugh it off if you miss. Soft-ball cricket had always lived in that category for me fun, yes, but never serious.

That assumption lasted about two overs.

Without the fear of getting hit, everyone started playing differently. Batsmen stopped backing away. Bowlers tried variations instead of just pace. Fielders actually attacked the ball instead of waiting for it to come to them. The game slowed down in a good way.

I noticed myself focusing on timing rather than power. Watching the ball onto the bat. Trying to place it instead of slogging. Mistakes still happened, but they didn’t hurt literally or mentally. And because they didn’t hurt, I learned from them.

That’s something hard-ball cricket doesn’t always allow.

The ss poly soft cricket ball had a strange effect on the match. It removed fear without removing accountability. A bad shot still felt wrong. A mistimed hit still died early. You couldn’t completely get away with sloppy cricket but you weren’t punished harshly either.As the game went on, something else changed.

There were fewer arguments. Fewer pauses. More continuity. Overs flowed. People stayed engaged. Nobody was sitting out nursing fingers or shoulders. The match lasted longer than usual, and somehow felt more complete.

At one point, someone said, “This doesn’t feel like practice anymore.”They were right.

It felt like cricket stripped of pressure but full of intent. The kind of cricket where you remember why you enjoyed the game before it became about proving something. Before injuries, before ego, before fear crept in.

I’m not saying a soft ball replaces leather-ball cricket. It doesn’t. But it offers something different space to experiment, to improve, to enjoy the game without constantly protecting yourself.

That day changed how I looked at “practice.”

Sometimes, practice isn’t about preparing for the real thing. Sometimes, it is the real thing just played more freely.

And all it took was a ground, a few friends, and an ss poly soft cricket ball to remind me of that.