This solo Indian developer built a cricket game that crossed 1.5 million visits without ads, money or fantasy bets

In India, you must have heard of this belief that cricket is not just a game; it is a religion. The game has a massive fan following all over the country. As a result, for years, the digital game has also thrived in two extremes. On one side are the fast-paced arcade titles, which are made for quick matches. On the other hand, there are real-money fantasy platforms that turn fandom into financial risk and are now banned in India, by the way. But what has been missing is a middle ground, a simulation-driven experience that allows fans to think like team owners, selectors, or directors without the pressure of real-world stakes.

That is the space Dhiva Logu, a solo entrepreneur and developer, is quietly carving out with Play Auction and Cricket Director, a two-browser-based cricket simulation game that has seen rapid organic adoption over the past few weeks.

In an exclusive interaction with Digit, Logu said that what began as a weekend project has now crossed 1.5 million visits, drawing attention not just for its scale. During the conversation, he spoke about how he spotted a gap in the market, went on to create these viral games, and shared his plans for the future.

How these games were made

Dhiva’s motivation stemmed from dissatisfaction as a long-time cricket fan and gamer, rather than chasing trends. While football fans have enjoyed management simulators such as Football Manager for decades, cricket has never had an equivalent that allows players to control strategy off the pitch.

Most cricket games today are centred on batting or bowling mechanics, with little emphasis on squad building, auctions or long-term strategy. Dhiva believed this reduced the sport to a surface-level experience.

‘I always wanted to build a Football Manager alternative for cricket,’ he explained. ‘Football has its simulation game, but cricket doesn’t,’ he added.

That absence became more apparent as AI-powered tools made it easier for individual developers to build complex systems without large teams. Dhiva, who recently quit his job to work on his own startup ideas, decided the time was right to experiment.

From a weekend experiment to a viral game

During the interaction, he revealed that the first version of Play Auction was created in just four hours over the weekend. The idea was simple: let users simulate IPL-style auctions in real time, selecting teams, managing budgets and bidding against other human players.

The way it encouraged social interaction, rather than the auction mechanic, was what made it a viral product. Players join shared rooms, chat during bidding wars, react to results and leave with a squad they helped build.

‘The main thing that made this game viral is the chat feature,’ Dhiva said.

The design naturally promotes sharing. One user must invite others to fill a room, and completed teams are frequently shared via WhatsApp and social media. This loop has allowed the game to spread organically, without the need for marketing.

In a month, Play Auction has got over 1.5 million visits, with 85,000 users engaging beyond the two-minute mark, he stated. Average session times are around 26 minutes, indicating that users are not just trying the game, but staying.

Running at scale all alone

Despite the growing user base, Play Auction and Cricket Director remain entirely solo projects. Dhiva handles development, infrastructure, updates and community engagement himself. From a technical standpoint, he says this was a deliberate choice. The architecture was designed from the start to handle scale without frequent intervention.

‘The tech stack is very optimised. It can scale to much higher loads,’ he says, adding that his prior experience building startups helped him ship quickly without sacrificing stability.

There are no immediate plans to hire or raise funds, he added. With no investor or deadline pressure, Dhiva wants to be able to iterate based on user feedback rather than monetisation demands.

Industry attention without chasing it

The game’s organic growth has attracted attention from unexpected quarters. Dream11 co-founder Harsh Jain publicly acknowledged Play Auction on social media, calling it difficult to build a good auction game and offering support as an early evangelist.

OMGGG❤️

CEO of Dream 11 🤯 just followed me and said this.

Can https://t.co/QuY0CCPWOr & https://t.co/7B1djc0gPR will be part of Dream 11 family someday?

😅Let's see how this unfolds. Still building this on side while running my SaaS startup❤️ https://t.co/bsWvkAmRSY

— Dhiva Logu (@imdhiva) December 29, 2025

While such recognition often triggers acquisition speculation, Dhiva remains cautious. ‘It’s still very early,’ he said. ‘If something happens, it will be discussed privately,’ he added. For now, the focus remains on improving the experience rather than capitalising on attention.

A clear line between simulation and gambling

One of the most notable aspects of Play Auction is what it avoids. In an Indian market increasingly wary of real-money gaming, Dhiva has consciously kept financial incentives out of gameplay.

‘What’s banned is collecting money from people and rewarding them with money,’ he stated.

Instead, Play Auction is free to play, with light ad-based revenue currently ranging from $4 to $5 (roughly Rs 360 to Rs 450) per day. Future plans include optional premium features or quality-of-life upgrades, as well as models that comply with regulations and maintain user trust.

This positioning has also influenced brand interest. While fantasy gaming platforms are restricted, cricket blogs, media publishers and content platforms have already approached Dhiva about advertising opportunities.

Cricket Director and the long-term vision

Cricket Director caters to cricket fans’ strategic imagination, whereas Play Auction appeals to their competitive instincts. The game currently allows players to manage a single IPL season, selecting teams, managing matches and watching the results unfold. However, this is only the foundation.

Dhiva’s long-term goal is to create a persistent simulation world in which users can progress through seasons, switch roles, manage different teams, and shape their careers over decades.

‘You enter as a director of cricket and the world keeps moving forward; 2025, 2026, even beyond,’ he says.

Unlike Play Auction, Cricket Director is likely to use a paid model. Users have already expressed their willingness to pay, drawing parallels with Football Manager’s annual pricing structure.

What comes next

While he did not have concrete plans, Dhiva wants to expand Play Auction beyond cricket. He stated that Football auctions are set to begin, with plans to introduce the platform to a global audience. He also added that an AI-controlled team suggester will be added, which will help the players to form a balanced team in the middle of an auction. Custom auctions using user-uploaded player lists are also on the horizon.

All of this is being built at the same rate and scale as the original game: quickly, collaboratively and without external pressure.

Built for love of the game

For Dhiva, the success of Play Auction and Cricket Director isn’t defined by revenue or valuation. It’s defined by how people respond. ‘People tell me their old WhatsApp groups are active again,’ he says. ‘That’s the best feedback,’ he added.