A cricket lover among football fans

The struggle of being a cricket fan in this country is real. Whether it’s a nail-biting, heart-pounding finish that ends in Bangladesh’s victory or woeful defeat, the matches never shy away from playing with our emotions. And God forbid the amount of times we have had our hearts broken for missing out on a win in a closely contested match. Nonetheless, it’s a tough life to lead and remain devoted to the game of cricket, especially if your friend circle isn’t actually that much into the game as you are.

They will make fun of the multiple formats

Imagine being made fun of and laughed at for one of the best features of the game of cricket - the multiple formats. Those noisy whiners will come up with excuses to criticise each of the formats and how all of them are completely unnecessary modifications of the game, finally coming to the conclusion that the game itself should not exist. They will come at you saying that the law makers of the game are confused themselves and should stick to just one suitable format only. Listen pal, we actually like the idea of watching this beautiful game of cricket in different formats. You can stay away with your one and a half hours of glory. At least we get a minimum of four hours to kill watching a T20 match when we don’t have any other plans.

Season vs Series

Here we go. The football fans are so busy and consumed with whatever is happening with club football that they hardly ever give a damn about cricket. This means that evening hangouts turn into intense chattering of whoever is on top of the points table, whoever is not getting enough playing time, or whoever is making a full feature documentary about his transfer announcement. This will go on for almost the entire year so very soon us cricket fans start to feel like we are not exactly wanted in these hangouts anymore. We are just there to nod along and not mention the word “cricket” ever. And the final nail in that coffin is when your friends start a group conversation for some Fantasy Premier League game. We get left out, obviously. Or even worse when we are added, rather accidentally, and then get kicked out.

It’s the gentleman’s game

Those football supporters will make fun of our players just because they don’t get into ugly slugfests and go around headbutting each other. Apparently, cricketers are soft and footballers are the real men who showcase physicality throughout the entire game. These football fans will mock the very essence and vigour of this gentleman’s game. Then they will go on and on about how the cricket fans are just as soft as the players.

A struggling gaming life

If you are a true cricket fan then chances are you are one of those few people who still play cricket games, more so than any other type of games. But then again you are probably the only one in your friend circle as well. This means that your friends will spend endless hours playing the latest FIFA between them online while you are playing Cricket 07 over and over again. And no matter how many new versions of Don Bradman Cricket come out, you will have a tough time discussing this with any of your football fanatic friends because they simply don’t care. On top of that, we don’t get invited to a friend’s place when they have FIFA tournaments either. 

They show up when it’s convenient

These football fans, with the entire buzz surrounding their club football and international tournaments decide to put on the cricket fan starter pack. And by starter pack I mean just the jersey of Bangladesh, and jump on the bandwagon at a moment’s notice. You will never see the sight of them in that attire apart from any series or international tournament where something major is up for grabs for Bangladesh. They will come swooping in and act like they have been the lifelong fans of this game just like us. But the truth is they don’t care about this game as much as you do. They will show up unannounced and play the role of a die-hard fan. And even in between, they will go missing when Bangladesh is not playing and only re-emerge from the shadows at their convenience.

You are the only one who stays updated

The legends of the game of cricket that fascinate us is a snore fest to our football obsessed friends. They never keep up with the latest updates of whatever is happening in the cricketing world. But we do. Unfortunately this comes back to haunt us when we sit down to watch a game of cricket with one of those friends. They will irritate you with question after question, with no regard of the fact that you are trying to concentrate on the match. And for the last time, we are done dealing with the weird face expressions you make when we take time to explain to you why one of cricket’s greatest rivalries is contested to win a 15 cm wooden trophy that contains ash.

MD. Zamilur Rahman is a self-proclaimed foodie and comic geek. So if you have enough money to treat him with kacchi he will be interested to hang out with you. Connect with him at your own risk at shuvosanctum@gmail.com