My wife asked to check when the match would start. I googled and found that 2 overs were already up, and there was a “Watch it Live” button! It took me to a Pakistani streaming service. I had already heard its name but didn’t know what else they offered. Unfortunately, other than the match, everything was buffering and losing quality.
They probably dedicated all the resources they had to the match, which makes sense, and I am not much of an entertainment consumer anyway. Normally my feed consists of technical YouTube channels. I think the last thing I watched on Netflix was Money Heist, and that too was because my wife was addicted to it. I used to peek between scenes and had to figure out the whole sequence.
Cricket was the only pastime growing up as kids without internet. In the neighbourhood, there were occasional football, hockey, and tennis practices depending on what was on TV. Later, I started practicing with a local club. I didn’t play any of their matches or officially register with them, but they were kind enough to allow me to practice. I think I paid once or twice for buying footballs, the perks of being a “student”.
By the way, the student category was very helpful with the big buses like the route 4L or 4M - they took 1 rupee instead of 3, which was later changed, but I don’t think it continued. Also, the public bus system has deteriorated a lot. Not that it was any good during my school and university days, but now it takes ages for these public buses to arrive. One of my university friends says it’s because people started opting for bikes, taxis, and rickshaws. Anyway, back to cricket.
I never liked watching any games, and after computers and internet, stopped playing them completely. I played football as a video game but never cricket. So here I am, writing about life experiences after watching cricket for 5 minutes, and closing the tab with the next set of ads at the end of the over.
I don’t know how good I am at these sports, but looking at the weight I have gained, I don’t think I can run for even a few minutes. So something needs to change, starting with walking again.