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Now, don’t get me wrong but I couldn’t be more correct.
Yes, I’m an Indian and I do enjoy watching Sachin Tendulkar score centuries and India winning the world cup. But, does it pump me up as much as watching the North West derby or the FIFA World Cup finals? I don’t think so.
So, in plain simple words, Football is better than Cricket. Still not satisfied?
Football is simple yet effective
Test cricket is the purest form of sport says the cricket purists. Let me not get into it. But, Football is simple. It is 90 minutes of pure fun which could sometimes go on to a nail-biting penalty shootout which is probably the most heart-ticking event in any sport.
Cricket on the other hand is complicated. You have the Tests, the ODIs and the T20s. It will take a kid at least a few years to understand why the players wear whites sometimes and the color kits otherwise. Also, people today are not ready to wait five full days to get the result of a single game.
The World Wide appeal
They say that England founded cricket and even there, Football is the most watched game. You might say that the condition of hockey is no different when compared to cricket in India, but you get the whole point don’t you?
Right from Maldives to Bolivia, each and every country has an international football team whereas there are only 12 proper countries playing cricket. Football is watched more, it has a large pool of players and its appeal is universal.
The Clothes
How many teams in International Cricket wear blue ? India, Sri Lanka, England and some others. When these teams are playing, I have to watch really hard to spot the difference.
In football, you have the home kits, the away kits and also the third kit. Moreover, these kits look real good than the crappy cricket kits. Even the worst kits in Football are colorful and attractive. Cricket kits are plain simply boring and baggy.
The Atmosphere
Have you ever seen empty seats at Old Trafford, Camp Nou or at any other football stadium for that matter? (other than in India of course)
It is not just the occupancy, the entire football stadium has an electric atmosphere (No Ravi Shastri, not your version of ‘electric’) and you get pumped up even while watching that on TV.
The atmosphere in cricket as you know is absent (so are the fans!). Even in a country like India, the stadiums are hardly half full these days.
Terms and Tools
Cricket as already said is a complex sport. You have terms like Yorkers, Doosra, Chinamen and a whole lot of fielding positions which will take an average person 2-3 years to master. Football in that way is simple. The offside rule is probably the only thing that is complex about football.
You can play football if you have a ball and a field. Cricket on the other hand requires helmets, stumps, pads, arm pads, gloves and others which are not in everyone’s reach.
The Characters
Football is a lively sport with all sorts of characters and personalities. Cricket on the other hand is a ‘gentlemen’s sport’. But, frankly the cricket players are void of emotions.
Will you ever get a coach like Jose Mourinho in cricket? Has there ever been a genius in cricket like Pele, Maradona or Messi? (I’m ready to feel the wrath of Tendulkar fans once again!)
Has cricket ever seen quotes like those from Ian Holloway, Brian Clough or Jose Mourinho? I don’t think so.
Football is ad free
You don’t see tacky cell phone advertisements flashing here and there during Football games. For 45 minutes, you get to sit there and watch the whole game without an interruption. Even if it rains, the game doesn’t stop.
There are drinks breaks, ads between overs, wickets and even screen adjustments these days in cricket. Football even today remains a beautiful game while cricket has become more commercialized.
The transfers and controversies
I know many Football fans who keep refreshing transfer websites at least a thousand times on transfer deadline days. The whole excitement of watching a new player make a big money move into your team is just very exciting.
The so called IPL like the EPL didn’t even come close to satisfying that experience. Rather than trading players, the IPL did an ‘auction’ which was yet another way to make money for the board. Can you imagine Tendulkar playing for Chennai or Bangalore. Now, imagine Luis Figo playing for Real Madrid. Those things are possible only in Football.
If you are not satisfied with all these ‘logical’ explanations, here are some ‘not-so-logical’ ones that will do the job for you.
1. Footballers don’t use their saliva to shine the ball.
2. The winning captain does not uproot the goal post for souvenir.
3. The losing captain does not have the option to blame the defeat on the pitch.
4. A football manger controls the players and not vice-versa like in India.
5. Football can be played under any weather.
6. There are no godmen like “Sachin Tendulkar” in Football (yet again, ready to feel the wrath)
7. The match commentary is much better in football and they don’t utter cheesy cliches (Thats for you Ravi Shastri)
8. We hate gentlemen. Football is beautiful!
So, I guess that sums it up. I think I might have thrown in some tantrums which are just my own perceptions but overall, I think that Football is way better than Cricket can ever be. So, what do you think?
