Box cricket, once largely associated with urban recreation centres and commercial sports complexes, is increasingly finding a place in Punjab’s smaller towns and remote rural pockets as demand grows for accessible and organised sporting spaces among youngsters.A recent example is Khassan village in Bholath, where the administration has approved the development of a dedicated box cricket facility on the ground of Government Senior Secondary School. The project, covering around 6,000 square feet, is expected to be completed within two months of work commencing, with tenders to be floated shortly.Deputy Commissioner Kapurthala Akash Bansal said the facility would provide youngsters with a safe and dedicated space to play and practise. Besides regular games, the ground could be used for local tournaments, coaching sessions and friendly matches.The spread of such facilities marks an expansion of sporting infrastructure in Punjab, where cricket has traditionally been played on open village grounds, school fields and makeshift pitches. Box cricket, with its enclosed playing area, artificial turf and safety nets, offers a more compact format that can be developed even where large expanses of land are not available.The concept is particularly suited to smaller towns, where youngsters often have limited access to professionally maintained sports infrastructure. With floodlights and enclosed nets, such grounds can also allow games to be played in the evenings, making them convenient for students and working youth, said Varun Singh, a cricket enthusiast.Officials say the facilities can serve a dual purpose — promoting fitness while keeping youngsters engaged in constructive activities. Regular participation in sports is also seen as helping to build discipline, confidence and teamwork.The Khassan project is part of a wider push to take modern sports infrastructure beyond Punjab’s major urban centres. For villages and semi-urban areas, such facilities can also become community sporting hubs rather than merely cricket grounds. With proper maintenance and regular competitions, they can give local players an opportunity to participate in organised sport without having to travel to bigger cities.While cities such as Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Mohali have witnessed the growth of private sports academies and commercial box-cricket venues, smaller towns are now beginning to embrace the format through schools, local bodies and government-backed initiatives. In Jalandhar city, there are at least eight private box-cricket facilities, with per-hour charges ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1,200. Bookings are also available through the Hudle app.wuw