Ankita Pandey lists six reasons why it makes imminent sense to switch to football.
1 Football can be played in shorts. Airy ones. When it's hot and muggy, airy clothing is a must. Long boring cricket-pants are a complete no-no... Sure they hide ugly, hairy legs but, hey, it's the time and age of the metrosexual. Bring on the bare, clean-shaven look.
2 You can take off your shirt and fling it around but that won't be remembered as the defining moment of your career. Being remembered for taking your shirt off? Footballers do it all the time. Fine, they get the yellow for it, but who cares...
3 Because even the Indian cricket captain is silently praying that his team have a game of football with Brian Lara. At least, Lara can't score runs then. But, Mr Dravid, lest you forgot, Trinidad and Tobago have qualified for the World Cup. Dwight Yorke is Lara's close friend. And like old buddies, they exchange ideas on cricket and football. They'll beat you at football too, Dravid, unless you decide to give Sourav Ganguly a call. Remember the Kolkata-footie connection?
4 You can't keep changing numbers at whim. If it's six, then six it is for the rest of your career. Not like our cricketers. "Hmm... it's been ages since I last scored a century. How about changing by shirt number from 32 to 17? That's my last girlfriend's birth date. She'll be impressed," decides one of our under-performing cricketers. How about changing the sport you play, then. Gilli danda, anyone?
5 You can play football in the rains. Au contraire in cricket — a few drizzles and bring on the covers, please. Didn't anybody teach them in school: 'The human body is insoluble in water'? You can play football in the rain, in snow, at the beach, on the mountains, in the kitchen. In the bathroom. Yup. You can.
6 You don't have to wear protection in awkward places. And then, settle it in full public view, distracting everybody. You know what we mean. Sachin's 'lunge' is as famous as his cover drive. In football, you keep it simple. When one lines-up for the free -kick, the wall members just cover their most important part with their hand.
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