Why Cricket is a Better Sport than Football

During a Cricket World Cup game, I came across an advertisement which says “while you wait for the next over to start, you can go to our website and compare various insurance policies and save Rs. 7000”. At first, it sounded like every other Indian Advertisement. But, I gave it a thought and it’s not totally bizarre. That’s the beauty of this game.

Unlike football, I don’t have to dedicate myself to a cricket game completely. I can use washroom while a fast bowler goes back to his long run up, rubs the ball with his pants, spits on it a couple of times, etc. I can take a break after the first hour of the game (15 overs or so) , go to grocery shopping with my wife and come back after an hour, and last hour of the game (the most entertaining one) will be left still. I can then take another break, may be respond to my emails or eat my lunch and come back for the second innings. Can I do all this with Football?

I have the privilege to watch my team play our arch rivals or neighbors again and again. How often England football team play Scotland or Ireland or their rivals Germany? In Cricket, India plays Sri Lanka twice in a year (for a full series). It’s easy; there are hardly 10 regular teams in the cricketing world. Familiar foes, familiar game, all the time. It’s so comforting, the usualness of it.

It gets even better when you move to Indian Premier League: Beautiful cheerleaders, 100s of Sixes, Spicy commentary by the likes of Navjot Singh Sidhu. I will never get this kind of entertainment ever in football. The so called legends and pundits of football are too boring and they focus too much on the game and analysis. I can read a newspaper for that. I am not watching the game to learn anything from it, I just came back from my office, and I need entertainment.

I want my game’s experts to tell me “it’s gone for four” when it’s “gone for four” and also to let me know that “players are shaking hands” when “players are shaking hands”. I mean I can see what’s happening on TV, but instead of over reading the game, analyzing it etc, I love my TV to let me know exactly what’s happening on TV, right?