A friend of mine asked me to answer the question, "Which is better, Cricket or Footba
- First of all, there are more variables to it in the form of pitch, weather conditions, size of the ground, wind, dew, type of ball etc. Every game can potentially be very different from the previous one even if the same teams are playing, due to the variety of conditions in which the game can happen. The same cannot be said about football where Home or Away games only mean more or less crowd support (a subset of cricket).
- Cricket brings more skills like patience, smartness/cleverness in to the picture apart from the pure talent needed for the sport. Football is all about adrenaline and there is very little room to actually “think” during the game. The role of captain in football is only that of a cameo appearance during the toss (which he has no control over :D). In Cricket however, the role of the captain is of paramount importance with numerous decisions taken every ball of the game (field setting, bowling changes etc). Great teams in cricket have almost always had a legendary captain who is typically not the best batsman or bowler in the team. (eg. Clive Lloyd, Steve Waugh, M.S. Dhoni).
- Cricket is a very inclusive sport. The players are more diverse(compare Indian spinners to the West Indian fast bowlers) in every aspect of the game, this again is possible only because of the variables in the game. Also, the slowness of the game (as compared to football) gives space for a lot of mind games and tactics, especially in the form of field settings and bowling changes. It is a common sight in cricket to keep the mid wicket and fine leg deep to make the batsman expect a short ball/bouncer and then making it a bluff by bowling a full yorking delivery at the batsman's foot to get him LBW or bowled. Or it could well be a double bluff with a snorting bouncer followed by a deadly yorker. Much of the drama happens in the minds of the batsmen and the bowler and it is very easy to miss the same if you haven’t played the game with a competitive spirit at some level. Such variables in the game allow players to compensate fitness (which is a prerequisite in football) with other skills. This is especially helpful if you are a skinny kid trying to find the right sport to play. Not to say that fitness doesn’t play a role in cricket, it does have a lot of incentives in the game and makes your life a whole lot easier. (Hitting Sixes!)
- Cricket has different formats of the game, technically making it a new sport in itself. The fun part of being a cricket fan is that even after hundreds of years, the game is still evolving and continues to throw up surprises. The game has been tweaked to suit the pace of different life styles. You can peacefully sip your tea and watch a game of intense cricket play out over five days or experience the kiss-kiss-bang-bang moments of the game with a beer and T20 in 3 hours. Right in between is the ODI format which has gone through quite a few changes in itself (2 white balls, new fielding restrictions). As a result teams are still figuring out the right strategies to master the format and no one team seems to be dominating at the moment.Looking forward to an exciting World Cup 2019!
- Most importantly, Cricket honours and respects the “Spirit of the game”. The importance of this is very hard to explain to someone who doesn’t follow the game. I can only try to put forward an idiom “It’s just not cricket!”, which is used to say that something is unjust or dishonest. Cricket emphasises and teaches values/virtues that are very much relevant in real life. Some actions, even though very much a part of the rules (eg Mankading) are heavily frowned upon and seldom practiced, just because its not in the “Spirit of the game”! Compare this with football where it’s a norm for even role models and idols to “dive” in order to get a free kick/penalty."
