My Favourite Game

Games play a significant role in life. They keep us physically fit and sound. In the modern times, they provide a relief from the boredom and tedium of the daily humdrum of life. They not only unburden the mind but also refresh it. They improve the blood circulation and immunity of the body. Exercise also stimulates the body growth and helps to keep it healthy and in good shape.

The game that I enjoy playing and watching the most is cricket. This game is one of the few positive things the English colonizers brought to India. Since then, cricket has become a part of the Indian culture. It is nowhere to stay and entertain the people. Whenever there is a cricket match, several Indian families assemble in front of the television and sit glued to it till it finishes. They continue to sit there even after the finish to discuss the performances of different players, to criticize their moves, or to celebrate their victory by merry-making. Thus, Indians have imbibed this game into their lives and have given it an indigenous colour. The cricketers of our Indian team are adored more than the Bollywood actors and actresses. They are the youth icons, the star attraction. Probably some of them are the richest of the Indians. Today half of the advertisements that we watch on the television have our cricketers in them to endorse the goods.

Cricket is the most loved game in India. It is one of the most competitive of sports. A cricket match is played between two teams. It is a team sport with two teams comprising of eleven active players each and one designated substitute. It is similar to baseball with the objective of the game being to score the most runs in order to win. It is a bat and ball game played on a roughly elliptical grass field, in the centre of which is a flat strip called the pitch. Each team has a captain who before the toss for innings nominates his players. At times a substitute is allowed to field or run between the wickets for any player who is incapacitated by some injury or illness during the match. He can neither bat nor bowl but can field only.

Two umpires are appointed before the start of the game, one for each end to have an impartial control over the game. No umpire is changed during a match without the consent of both the captains. The umpires give the instructions and signals to the scorers near the scoreboard and decide the course of the game. Although in the modern times, some rules of this game have undergone a slight change with the IPL and the Twenty-Twenty series but the basic rules still remain the same.

I like the IPL specifically because of the good organization and a fine selection process of the players. No doubt the players are ‘bought and sold’ or ‘auctioned’ but the game is quite gripping. Every team owner tries to own as well as secure the best players for his team. It further brings the hidden and unexplored potential in some of the cricketers. The matches are very interesting and entertaining

If one talks about cricket and its positive aspects, the negative aspects automatically come to the mind. In the recent times, the game of cricket has been maligned by some factors like the betting and match-fixing scandals. Such bad practices give birth to the unhealthy competition which further leads to the deterioration in the standard and lowering of the dignity of the game. The game, in this way, loses its purpose and meaning. The cricket authorities have framed new laws and fixed penalties for the erring players. The cricketers should understand the fact that cricket is a game played for entertainment, not a competition or a life and death matter. So, the players should keep up the dignity of the game by playing a fair game.