A23 Fantasy Cricket App Free Download: Current Status and Free Play Options
A23 stopped real money play in India on 1 October 2025 when the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 came into force.
A23 stopped real-money play in India on 1 October 2025 when the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 came into force. The app is still downloadable, but Indian users cannot deposit money, join paid contests or withdraw cash winnings from the regular cash flow. Free practice contests, social rooms and the basic fantasy cricket format all still work for anyone who wants to learn the game or play without a stake.
What the 2025 Online Gaming Act changed for A23
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 treats online "games played for money" as a prohibited category nationwide. It is central legislation, so it applies in every state and union territory regardless of any state-level rules that existed before. A23's parent company announced it would comply with the law, which in practice meant suspending real-money features for users in India.
What that looks like for a player who opens the app today:
- Cash contests are removed from the lobby.
- Deposits through UPI, cards and netbanking are disabled.
- Withdrawals of any remaining wallet balance are handled through a separate support process.
- Free-to-play contests, practice modes and offline rummy on the same platform remain available.
If your interest is in learning how fantasy cricket works, building teams or competing against friends without paying anything, none of that is affected by the ban. The rules of the game and the scoring system are unchanged.
Can you still download the A23 fantasy cricket app?
The A23 app is still listed on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store in India at the time of writing, and the listing reflects the post-ban version. You can install it, log in with an existing account or a mobile number, and use the free portions of the app. You cannot register a new paid account for cash play, because that option no longer exists in India.
A few things worth knowing before you install:
- The app size and Android requirements change with each version, so check the Play Store page on your device for the current minimum Android version and storage footprint.
- iOS users need an iPhone or iPad running a recent iOS version; the exact minimum is shown on the App Store listing.
- Older versions of the app pulled from outside the official stores are not recommended, since they may be outdated, modified or unsafe.
If your original search was for a "free download" link from a third-party site, treat that with caution. The official store route is the safer way to get the app, and it is the only version the operator supports.
What you can still do on A23 without depositing money
The free portion of the app is not just a stripped-down demo. Several genuine features are still active:
- Practice contests: small leaderboards with no entry fee, useful for testing team picks.
- Social rooms: private lobbies where you and your friends can play head-to-head for points, not money.
- Fantasy cricket tutorials: the app walks new users through player selection, captain and vice-captain choices, and the points system.
- Stats and player data: form guides, pitch reports and head-to-head numbers are typically still available in the research section.
For someone who wants to learn fantasy cricket as a skill, these are the same tools a paid player would use to research teams. The only difference is that you do not commit any cash to a contest.
Withdrawing an existing wallet balance
This is the question most often hiding behind pre-ban searches for the A23 fantasy cricket app. If you had money in your A23 wallet when real-money play was suspended, you can usually get it back, but the process is not the same as it was when cash play was live.
The general steps are:
- Open the app and look for a banner, notification or support link about the suspension of real-money games.
- Go to the wallet or account section and check for a "Withdraw" or "Refund" option tied to the suspension notice.
- If no button appears, contact A23 support directly through the in-app help menu or the official website.
- Keep your KYC documents and bank account details ready, because most refund flows require identity verification before payout.
Processing times, minimum amounts and any applicable fees are not published as a single number, because they depend on your specific balance, your bank and the refund policy in force at the time. The reliable way to find out exactly what applies to you is to check the support section of the app or write to customer care and ask for your account's specific refund status.
Players who deposited but never played a contest, and players who had an unresolved entry, are both covered under the same refund umbrella. If your case is stuck, escalate through the operator's grievance officer first; if there is still no resolution, the appropriate consumer forum or the grievance mechanism under the new Act would be the next step.
How fantasy cricket scoring actually works
Since many readers landing on this page are learning the format rather than chasing a download, a quick grounding in the mechanics is useful.
A fantasy cricket contest runs in a fixed sequence:
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | A real match is announced, with a deadline before it starts. |
| 2 | You pick 11 players from the two teams, within a salary cap. |
| 3 | You choose a captain (multiplier of 2x points) and a vice-captain (1.5x points). |
| 4 | Players score points based on their actual on-field performance - runs, wickets, catches, strike rate bonuses, economy bonuses, and so on. |
| 5 | Your team's total is the sum of your 11 players' points, adjusted by the captain multipliers. |
| 6 | Your rank on the leaderboard is set by your total versus every other team in the contest. |
The exact points table varies slightly by platform and by format (T20, ODI, Test), so the most useful habit is to read A23's points system screen before locking in a team. Captain and vice-captain choices matter more than almost any other decision, because of those multipliers.
Differences between practice and paid contests
Free and paid experiences used to differ in three ways. Only one of those still matters in India today.
| Feature | Free / practice contests | Paid contests (suspended in India) |
|---|---|---|
| Entry fee | None | Taken from wallet at entry |
| Prize pool | Points, badges, leaderboard rank | Cash |
| Player pool and rules | Same match data, same scoring | Same match data, same scoring |
| Skill development value | High | Same |
In other words, practice contests are a faithful simulation of the format. If you want to test whether you can actually pick teams well, the free leaderboards are a reasonable proxy.
Practical takeaway
If you came here to play A23 fantasy cricket for cash in India, that option was closed by central law on 1 October 2025 and there is no legal workaround. If you came here to learn the game, build teams for fun or compete with friends on practice leaderboards, the A23 app still supports that and is downloadable from the official app stores. If you have an old wallet balance, do not assume it is lost - open the app, follow the suspension notice to the refund flow, and contact support if no button appears. And if you decide to leave A23 entirely, delete your account data through the in-app settings rather than just uninstalling, so your KYC information is not left sitting in an account you no longer use.