Indian Cricket Player's Football Faves
By Shirin Sadikot
July 6 2014
With World Cup fever raging, it is appropriate that we look at who Team India's favorite cricketers are. To help us with this is Shirin Sadikot in Derby.
The ripples of the football action in Brazil are being felt around the globe. And the Indian Cricket Team is not immune to it. In the midst of their preparation for the Test series in England, the Indian cricketers are keeping a keen eye on the football World Cup.
Besides following the performance of their favourite teams and players in Brazil, they have also been indulging in heavy footy action themselves. Before practice, after nets, between sessions in a warm-up match or after the day’s play, a game of football seems customary. And it gets pretty competitive out there.
We asked the whole squad to put on paper their favourite footballer, the team they support or supported in the World Cup and the position they take during team footy games.
Here’s what we got.
|
Name |
Favourite Footballer |
Team Supporting in WC |
Your Position in Team Football games |
|
MS Dhoni |
Lionel Messi |
Brazil |
Every where |
|
Shikhar Dhawan |
Lionel Messi |
Brazil |
Front |
|
Gautam Gambhir |
Arjen Robben |
Netherlands |
Front |
|
Cheteshwar Pujara |
Cristiano Ronaldo |
Brazil |
Defender |
|
Virat Kohli |
Cristiano Ronaldo |
Germany |
Every where |
|
Ajinkiya Rahane |
Cristiano Ronaldo |
Brazil |
Every where |
|
Rohit Sharma |
Fernando Torres |
Spain |
Winger |
|
R Ashwin |
Varun Aaron |
Belgium |
Mid -Fielder |
|
Bhuvneshwar Kumar |
Lionel Messi |
Argentina |
Mid- Fielder |
|
Ishwar Pandey |
Lionel Messi |
Argentina |
Goal Keeper |
|
Ishant Sharma |
Neymar |
Brazil |
Defender |
|
Stuart Binny |
Lionel Messi &Varun |
Argentina |
Mid- Fielder |
|
Varun Aaron |
Zinedin Zidane |
France |
Mid- Fielder |
|
Wriddhiman Saha |
Lionel Messi |
Italy |
Mid- Fielder |
|
Pankaj Singh |
Zinedin Zidane |
Argentina |
Defender |
|
Murali Vijay |
Neymar |
Germany |
Striker |
|
Ravindra Jadeja |
Cristiano Ronaldo |
Portugal |
Mid- Fielder |
|
Duncan Fletcher |
Lionel Messi |
Germany |
Linesman |
|
Joe Dawes |
Walley Lewis |
- |
Left out/orange peeler |
|
Trevor Penney |
Steven Gerrard |
Holland |
Attacking mid-fielder |
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014:08:17:16:34:43 by Birbal.
The goings-on at the Football World Cup brings up some suspicious similarities with the Cricket World Cup.
Argentina's demolition of Brazil today, and the utterly lopsided score, brings up the question: how was USA so much more competitive in their game against Germany, scoreline much more balanced, and indeed the US had an apparent chance of pulling off a win at the end which they messed up?
Could it be that the US is the 800-pound gorilla which brings in revenue as long as they are around - and teams have a vested interest in keeping them around as long as possible?
Remember when Bangladesh sent India crashing out of the World Cup, the revenue took a huge hit. India being the 8000-pound gorilla brings in probably most of the revenue, so teams (and even the scheduling committee) seem to have learned not to send India out early. When India won the World Cup, that was a bonanza for the ICC.
The question is: why isn't there an anti-corruption committee looking into Germany's performance against the US? Surely if they underperformed to ensure the US would stay in the Cup by keeping the margin of defeat light, isn't that fixing?
Germany's real test will come in the final against Argentina, who are not exactly a great team either. But they will not be under such pressure, and they have Messi.