As the IPL approaches its business end, it’s hard to believe anyone plays more T20 cricket than India, but someone does. Indonesia. Believe it, it’s true.
In 2025, Indonesia’s men’s team played 45 T20Is, which was not only the most by any one team for that year but the most for any calendar year.
It’s also no accident. Indonesia hosted a nine-match series against Cambodia in the final week of 2025 to make sure they got their hands on the record, and won 8-0 to boot.
Why, you might wonder, is a country that has most of its sporting success in badminton (eight Olympic golds, six silver and eight bronze) so interested in cricket?
“We’re unique as an Associate,” Abhiram S Yadav, the chairman of Persatuan Cricket Indonesia, the country’s cricket board, says. “We are not a Commonwealth nation, so traditionally there is no background of cricket but we have worked hard to promote the game. It’s part of our national games, which is a multi-sport event contested between provinces, and since cricket has become an Olympic sport, this will also impact our membership with the National Olympic Committee of Indonesia.”
Essentially it’s part of what is described as “the Olympic halo effect,” by the ICC’s general manager for development, William Glenwright. He hopes it will give cricket a platform in places where it has not had one before. Though only six teams will compete at LA2028, and the qualification pathway is not yet known, you would think the likelihood of Indonesia being there is relatively low. Glenwright says that doesn’t change the impact of Olympic inclusion. [“It legitimises] the sport in the eyes of governments [and] makes the conversation with governments easier and changes the aura of the sport.”
In other words, there could be a case for more government funding for cricket in countries like Indonesia because of its association with the Olympics. Currently the government provides support in preparation for big tournaments like the Asian or South East Asian Games (Indonesia had cricketing representation for both) and it will do the same for an Olympic programme. The rest comes from Indonesia’s disbursement from the ICC, which has grown as their ranking on the ICC’s development scorecard has improved. From being below No. 45 when Yadav first came into the game in 2022 to being in the top 15 now, they have more money to spend and they’re putting it to good use.
Cricket in Indonesia has grown exponentially in the last four years. The country, made up of over 17,000 islands, with a population of over 288 million people, has 250,000 participants in the game, from the schools level on up. Since 2022 they have had a 159% increase in participation and a significant increase in coaching and umpiring. In the same four-year period, 482 coaches and 335 umpires have received ICC Foundation Course accreditation.
Interestingly, the gender split is almost straight down the middle. “We have an equal level of men and women,” Yadav says. “Of course, the standard will vary from one province to another but every time we have a men’s event, there will be a women’s event as well.”
And the women’s team are setting the pace when it comes to international achievement. “Our women qualified us for our first ICC event, the Under-19 World Cup in 2023. And in the Southeast Asian Games we have a good track record as well. In 2017 we won a silver [women] and a bronze [men] medal. In 2023 we won one gold medal [women’s Sixes], two silver [women’s T20 and 50-over] and one bronze [men’s Sixes]. And the previous SEA Games in Thailand [in 2025] we won one silver [women’s T10] and one bronze [women’s T20] so we’ve been always on the podium. Our women are ranked 22nd in the world. The men are now ranked at 60th but they played the most games in the world.”
They have also broken a few other records. Indonesia have the most ten-wicket wins in men’s T20Is: six. And one of their players, Gede Priandana, is the first to take five wickets in an over. Teenage cricketer Rohmalia holds the best figures in women’s T20Is: 7 for 0.
And though there is an obvious interest in Indonesia collecting pub-quiz-question-worthy-quirks in their cricket, there is also a serious effort on global cricket’s part to help them grow the game in the country.
From an ICC perspective, Indonesia is a no-brainer because of its size. “It’s the fourth-largest country by population, has a growing economy and a strong sporting culture. It’s a market that we want cricket to be more significant in,” Glenwright says. “If we’re to achieve our aspiration of growing the economic base of cricket and the global significance of cricket, then these big economies are the countries that we need to be more significant in. So from a strategic perspective, that’s important.”
Already Indonesia have started to flex their organisational muscle by joining the Asian Cricket Council, while remaining part of the East Asia-Pacific region as well. They hosted the ACC’s 2023 annual general meeting. “It was held in Bali and the attendance was above 100%,” Yadav says. “Because of Bali I guess.”
Cleverly, the country’s first turf ground is also being constructed in Bali and will be ready by September. “We are building twin grounds at the Bali International Oval, where there also will be the National Cricket Academy,” Yadav says. “It will have a fully fledged infrastructure for the national team, for hosting global pathways and hopefully starting next year [2027] we can already host some ICC pathway events, especially in the East Asia-Pacific region and Asian Cricket Council.”
How’s that for an invitation to visit one of the world’s most popular tourist spots?
Bali is one of 38 Indonesian provinces, and cricket is played in 21 of them. Though there are reasonably sized Australian and Indian expat populations in the country, the bulk of players are locals, and teams represent the full spectrum of the country’s diverse cultural mix.
“We are a Muslim-majority country and in the team we have Muslims players who wear the hijabs, Muslims without hijab, we have Hindus, we have Buddhists, we have Christians, we have Catholics, we have everyone,” Yadav says. “It’s a unique mix and the bonding is amazing.
“This is the plurality of Indonesia. Almost all our players are local. We do have some expat involvement but we’ve seen that even the expat-led clubs prefer local players because of how well they are performing. It’s something I didn’t expect, especially with the challenges of being an archipelago and moving from one province to another but people do it and we have unique stories that come out.”
One of their players, the bowler Maxi Koda, for example, has a job chopping trees on a small island in the Nusa province and takes a boat to Jakarta to play on weekend and then returns to the work week the same way, axe in hand. “He’s the fastest bowler in our national team,” Yadav says.
“We started not from a cricket checklist, we started with whatever is available and there are a lot of touching and fascinating stories as we try to get better.”
Koda and his team are competing in the East Asia-Pacific Sub-Regional Qualifier in Japan which is the step on the pathway to the 2028 T20 World Cup. Doubtless, they’ll be racking up matches as they attempt to get there.
