Confessions of a Closet Cricket Fan

I love football; it’s beauty, the finesse of a perfect trough ball, the thud of that mid-air volley or the curl on that looping cross. I appreciate football even more because I play it and understand it. It makes life better when I play with someone who recognizes the glee behind that one-two-one-two; it may have been called a hooligans game but it touches the heart.

I watch matches with devotion and most of my family members think that Barcelona is something not very far away. They even believe that Lionel Messi might come for tea one fine day. I’m one of those rare folks who love Manchester United but play FIFA computer games with Barcelona. My love for Manchester United prolongs from a childhood infatuation but the fanatic admiration for Barcelona surfaced due to the elegance in their game.

All said and done, I still watch cricket games. On the surface, I loathe cricket, its sluggishness, its tardiness and its love for drink breaks. Cricket is not something a Barcelona fan should be watching while having dinner but I do. Is it my inherent Indian-ness? Do I have the chromosome ‘C’ which 97% of Indians have? (Stats play no role in matter of the heart) Or is it just plainly because Sachin Tendulkar took birth? Perhaps my love for cricket is only because of Sachin.

I’d be the first person to raise my hand when someone asked, “Are you against idolizing?” But I make an exception when it comes down to Sachin. Also, not being a champion of nepotism, I played cricket as well and enjoyed it. A crisp cover drive is almost as much joy as that cutting through ball splitting the defenders. But somehow, I don’t want to enjoy cricket but still I do. I even project an image wherein I don’t watch cricket or watch it just because one should (Yes, watching cricket comes genetically for Indians). Maybe I started out with cricket, and football suddenly dribbled itself into my life and hence I still feel that long for cricket, with it being the ‘first love’.

Is it something that football does to you? Is it overpowering? Maybe the centuries of glorious football history weighs down on other sports. It is kind of a realization you have after you understand football. But still, cricket nibbles away for space and makes room for itself. It sits there quietly and erupts every time the bat makes the perfect connection and the ball rolls away to the fence, kissing the grass all the time. Maybe it is pure love for sport or maybe it is my Indian-ness. But I love cricket too.