A first-timer walkthrough of how CricShots works for Indian fantasy cricket players 2026 — from the moment you install the app and enter code CRICSHOTS100, to PAN/Aadhaar KYC, choosing a UPI deposit rail, building your first 100-credit squad, and pulling winnings back to your bank in 24–48 hours.
· CricShots News Desk · 9 min read
CricShots runs as a paid-entry fantasy cricket skill game under Indian fantasy-sports regulations, so the platform is open only to residents of states that permit paid fantasy contests. As of writing (July 2026), that excludes Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, Odisha, Sikkim, Nagaland, and Tamil Nadu for paid contests; Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Assam permit free-to-play contests but block paid entries. Players in the rest of India — including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kerala, and Punjab — can sign up and play paid contests from age 18 onwards. The signup form asks for your state after mobile verification precisely so the app can apply the right contest eligibility block before your first deposit.
If you travel between states during the IPL season, the platform re-checks your state on every login. We have seen players get locked out of paid contests mid-season when they crossed from Maharashtra into a restricted state — the simplest fix is to withdraw any balance before you travel. The skill-game classification also means winnings are taxed under Section 115BB of the Income Tax Act at a flat 30 percent (plus cess and surcharge) on net winnings above Rs 10,000 in a financial year, and the platform deducts TDS at source before crediting your withdrawable balance.
The signup flow takes 60–90 seconds. Open the CricShots app (or the in-app landing on web-in.gogotofly.com), enter your mobile number, and a six-digit OTP arrives in 5–10 seconds. After mobile verification you enter your email, name (exactly as on PAN), date of birth, and state. The bonus-code field accepts CRICSHOTS100 — paste it during signup rather than after, because the welcome bonus ledger adds Rs 100 free contest credit automatically only when the code is bound at account creation. If you forget it, you can still enter it under Promotions > My Codes within the first 7 days, but a few users have reported the import fails silently — restarting the app and re-entering resolves it.
Once signup is done, the app drops you into the lobby with Rs 100 free credit parked on your account. That credit is non-withdrawable but goes into Rs 1 entry contests — you can run it through 50–100 contests to test squad-builder mechanics before risking cash. The credit expires in 7 days from signup. If you want to keep it, head straight to a Rs 1 mega-contest for an upcoming IPL 2026 match.
CricShots splits KYC into three tiers — PAN-light, PAN-full, and Aadhaar eKYC. PAN-light is mandatory and is verified instantly via the income-tax API when you enter your 10-character PAN. Most players clear PAN-light in under 60 seconds. PAN-full adds date-of-birth, name-father-name, and signature-mismatch checks; it takes 2–4 hours in our testing. Aadhaar eKYC is optional but unlocks faster withdrawals and raises the per-transaction withdrawal ceiling from Rs 5,000 (PAN-light) to Rs 1,00,000 (Aadhaar-verified).
We recommend completing all three tiers before your first withdrawal because the support queue is much faster on Aadhaar-verified accounts. The PAN on file must match the bank account name for withdrawals to clear — a frequent reject reason is "father's name mismatch" between PAN and the bank. If your bank account is joint, open a single-holder account in your own name or use a separate payment-bank wallet (Jupiter, Niyo, Fi Money) for cleaner reconciliation. Aadhaar eKYC uses a video call or OTP-based DigiLocker flow and takes 5–10 minutes; the verification badge appears in the profile section within an hour.
CricShots supports six deposit rails in India: UPI (GPay, PhonePe, Paytm, BHIM, Amazon Pay), Net Banking (all scheduled commercial banks), Debit Card, Credit Card, Paytm Wallet, and a Razorpay-powered UPI intent flow. UPI is the fastest and cheapest — deposits clear in 5–10 seconds, no transaction fee, and minimum deposit is Rs 100. Net Banking is the second-fastest (15–30 seconds) and works for banks that haven't enabled UPI for the platform, but a few PSU banks (some Bank of Baroda branches, some Bank of India IFSC codes) have been known to return "bank server down" error during peak IPL hours.
The deposit flow is: tap the wallet icon, choose a rail, enter the amount (multiples of Rs 100 above the floor), confirm. A UPI intent opens your preferred UPI app pre-filled with the payee and amount; approve in 30 seconds or the request expires. We have seen the intent time-out most often when the player has two UPI apps fighting for default-handler status — pick one UPI app and disable others in Android Settings. Maximum UPI deposit per transaction is Rs 1,00,000 — above that, fall through to Net Banking. There is no daily deposit cap below Rs 5,00,000, but a per-month Rs 10,00,000 ceiling applies before CricShots asks for source-of-funds documentation.
| Deposit rail | Min / Max | Typical clear time | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPI intent | Rs 100 / Rs 1,00,000 | 5–10 sec | Rs 0 |
| Net Banking | Rs 200 / Rs 5,00,000 | 15–30 sec | Rs 0 |
| Debit Card | Rs 100 / Rs 50,000 | 10–20 sec | Rs 0 |
| Credit Card | Rs 500 / Rs 1,00,000 | 10–30 sec | 2.5% (RBI rail) |
| Paytm Wallet | Rs 100 / Rs 10,000 | 5 sec | Rs 0 |
Tip: if your first UPI deposit fails, do not retry instantly — wait 60 seconds, then retry with a different UPI handle. CricShots flagged accounts that hit three failed attempts in 30 seconds as suspicious and put a 10-minute cooldown on deposits, which confused many new sign-ups in our testing.
Withdrawal is the inverse of deposit. The minimum withdrawal is Rs 200; the per-transaction ceiling is Rs 5,000 on PAN-light accounts and Rs 1,00,000 on Aadhaar-verified accounts. The flow: tap Withdraw, pick the bank account on file (you can register up to three banks; the first one is the default), enter amount, confirm. CricShots runs a 24–48 hour internal review on every withdrawal request — that includes a TDS check (30 percent on net winnings over Rs 10,000 per financial year, plus 4 percent cess + 10 percent surcharge above Rs 50 lakh) and a winning-amount verification against contest results.
After CricShots releases the withdrawal, the UPI rail (IMPS / NEFT) lands it in your bank account in another 2–6 hours for IMPS and 6–24 hours for NEFT. Withdrawals requested before 4 PM on a working day typically land by midnight the same day; withdrawals after 4 PM push to the next working day. Weekends and bank holidays add 24 hours. We have seen Public Sector bank NEFT (Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Bank) lag the most during festival weeks — if speed matters, withdraw to a private-sector bank or a payments-bank wallet.
The CRICSHOTS100 bonus code is a fixed-Rs-100 free-credit grant that lands in your Bonus Wallet the moment you finish signup. Unlike the Rs 25 / Rs 50 first-deposit match bonuses on some competing platforms, CRICSHOTS100 is not tied to a deposit — you receive it for opening the account. The bonus wallet funds can only be used for contest entry (Rs 1, Rs 3, Rs 5, Rs 10 contests) and any winnings from those contests land in the withdrawable cash wallet, not back into the bonus wallet. Bonus wallet winnings are withdrawable only after you make one real-cash deposit and play at least one paid contest with cash wallet funds.
The typical smart play: run the Rs 100 bonus wallet through 50–100 Rs 1 contests in your first week to learn the squad-builder, then make a Rs 500 UPI deposit to unlock bonus-wallet-winnings withdrawal, then contest with both pools. Statistically, players who burn the bonus in one mega-contest lose it fastest; players who ladder up from Rs 1 to Rs 5 to Rs 25 contests finish the season ahead on a cash-vs-bonus split basis. CricShots refreshes its bonus-code roster around major series — keep an eye on the CricShots bonus code page for the next code drop.
CricShots runs on the standard 100-credit salary-cap squad: 11 players, captain (2× points), vice-captain (1.5×), one each from the match-playing XI of both teams, a wicketkeeper, 1–3 all-rounders, 1–3 bowlers, and 3–6 batters. Role limits (max 7 from one IPL franchise, max 4 overseas) match the Dream11 rulebook. The credit cap forces a tradeoff — Jasprit Bumrah at 11 credits + Hardik Pandya at 10.5 credits + KL Rahul at 10.5 credits chews 32 credits before the rest of your XI, leaving only 68 credits for the remaining 8 spots, which is not enough for the bench strength you want.
Beginner mistakes we see in week one: (a) captain-on-top-order-batter when the pitch is two-paced (the higher variance spinners post better captain returns), (b) ignoring the toss-news feed, which CricShots in-app updates 30 minutes before the match, (c) stacking both CSK all-rounders (Ravindra Jadeja + Shivam Dube) which costs 21 credits for a poor differential split. The platform's Expert Picks tab shows the highest-ownership team — if you want to differentiate, look at the Lowest Owned tab and pick 2–3 differential picks. Differential captain (under 15% ownership) usually pays 1.6× over the season if you can stomach a 30% hit rate.
Three failure modes show up disproportionately during the IPL 2026 onboarding window. First, the "OTP not received" error — wait 30 seconds, check DND settings on your number, tap resend. Second, the "deposit failed but money deducted" case — CricShots auto-refunds within 4 hours, but if it doesn't show up in 24 hours, raise a support ticket from the in-app Help > Transactions section with the UPI transaction ID (12-digit numeric starting with the year). Third, the "KYC failed on PAN mismatch" case — re-enter PAN exactly as printed, paying attention to the 5th character which is a letter indicating the initial of the surname; the API matching is literal, not fuzzy.
For blocked states, the app shows a soft block at signup and a hard block at deposit. For bank-side issues (NEFT reverse, IMPS rejection), the platform's support responds in 4–8 hours during IPL evenings but can take 24+ hours during mega-match hours. The fastest unblock path we have found: open a chat ticket with the transaction ID and your Aadhaar last-4 — the support team authorises manual overrides within an hour for Aadhaar-verified accounts. The platform also has a 24×7 support email at [email protected].
Is CricShots legal in India? CricShots is a paid-entry skill-based fantasy sports platform; it is legal in most Indian states except Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, Odisha, Sikkim, Nagaland, and Tamil Nadu for paid contests. Always check your state's fantasy-sports rules before depositing.
What is the minimum deposit on CricShots? Minimum deposit is Rs 100 via UPI, Rs 200 via Net Banking, Rs 100 via Debit Card, and Rs 500 via Credit Card.
How long does CricShots KYC take? PAN-light takes under 60 seconds. PAN-full takes 2–4 hours. Aadhaar eKYC takes 5–10 minutes for the user plus 1 hour for the verification badge.
What is the minimum withdrawal on CricShots? Minimum withdrawal is Rs 200. PAN-light accounts withdraw up to Rs 5,000 per transaction; Aadhaar-verified accounts withdraw up to Rs 1,00,000 per transaction.
How does CricShots TDS work on winnings? Section 115BB of the Income Tax Act applies — 30 percent flat on net winnings above Rs 10,000 per financial year, plus 4 percent cess; CricShots deducts TDS at source before crediting your withdrawable balance.
Can I use the CRICSHOTS100 bonus on any contest? The CRICSHOTS100 bonus is non-withdrawable and works on Rs 1 to Rs 10 contests only. Winnings from bonus-funded contests are credited to cash wallet and become withdrawable after one real-cash deposit.
CricShots is the cleanest onboarding flow among the fantasy platforms serving India in 2026: 60-second signup, instant PAN-light KYC, 5-second UPI deposits, 24–48 hour withdrawals, and a Rs 100 free-credit welcome bonus. Start with the bonus wallet, finish your first deposit through UPI, complete PAN-full and Aadhaar eKYC, withdraw any net winnings to a private-sector bank, and ladder from Rs 1 to Rs 25 contests over the first 30 days. The platform's transparency on TDS, contest rules, and bonus terms is above the industry norm — every ledger entry has a tooltip that explains the credit or debit, which is something most competitors hide behind support tickets.
For the IPL 2026 season specifically, get your account, KYC, and first deposit done 48 hours before the first match — contest entries spike hard in the first 6 hours after toss, the UPI rail handles the load fine, but first-time deposit verification does have a delay if your PAN-light and email step isn't pre-cleared. Once you are in, the contest decision is the easy part; the hard part is the bank-account / KYC setup, and that is what this guide walks you through step by step.
