Archives for posts with tag: Deutschland
Batsman of Indian Cricket Team

Batsman of Indian Cricket Team

In my last 2 years here in Germany I have met so many people who were really curious about how cricket was played. Some people said if it was like baseball or some people compared it with other similar games. Cricket is generally a game played between two teams on a roughly circular ground with 11 players playing from each team. However, there are many rules in the game but in layman terms every team has to get as many runs as they can on board and prevent the other team beating the score sety by the first team. From one team two players are batting and from other team 11 players are fielding and its works the same in case of the other team batting.

Lately, there have been some new formats added to the game. Usually, there is one day cricket in which each team get to play for 50 overs (1 over is 6 balls). Also there is a test cricket format where teams play over the course of five days. Now recently, to make the game more interesting, Twenty20 also called T20 was introduced where each team just plays for 20 overs each which gives a lot of room for the players to play fast and in a more aggressive manner.

Cricket is huge in India. I can surely say the insaneness one gets to see on the football field here in Germany is never any less on a cricket ground. Cricket indeed plays a big role in the field of sports in India. With increasing popularity of the game and the players, cricket is now often chosen as a main hobby and also as a career option by many young teenagers. It’s not just the game but also related to fame as If one is doing well on the field would find a lot of companies asking him endorse their brands and so on.

In India the training for cricket starts from school level only. Nowadays, there are special schools dedicated to just cricket, some run by current or former cricketers. Though, hockey is the national game of India cricket is now and has been taking the forefront in terms of the followers in India and also abroad.

German football fans celebrating

German football fans celebrating

Lately after meeting people and sharing what I have been doing in Germany, I have realized that I have been living a German dream. Yes, it might sound funny but I think it’s true to some extent. What could be more German than working for a beer company and being enthusiastic about football? Being associated with St. ERHARD and exporting beer to Asia, my increasing enthusiasm about beer and brewing and also in soccer is taking me very near to know German culture better. I have always believed that India is one of the few countries which are blessed with strong tradition and culture but when I look around here in Germany I see how things like beer and soccer binds the whole nation.

Few examples being at Oktoberfest and all other small regional fests where people get together, dress-up in their respective traditional dresses and drink beer portrays German culture more than anything else for me. The same goes with soccer. Being an Indian, I am a big supporter of cricket but after living in Germany for almost 2 years now I feel how a game like soccer gets so many people cheering in one breath under one roof. Fans travelling to other countries to see their team playing, spending a lot of money on buying team merchandizes and so on makes it an experience to live. It’s not just soccer but also other sports which play a great role in Germany. Kids are taught to play and excel in different sports activities and their parents encourage them to participate and learn them respectively.

I personally experienced how it is to sit in a crowd of over 70,000 people with everyone screaming their teams name and encouraging them to play at their best at a soccer match played in Allianz Arena in Munich. I certainly got goosebumps that day.  It was the same experience when I went to see a handball match which I never thought I would be interested in, but it totally changed my perception of how to see a game by seeing people sitting on their edge of their seats and screaming their lungs out.

I feel privileged to be a part of such a culture and to live some years of my life in this country which is undoubtedly very rich both in values and traditions. Being a part of St. ERHARD plays a pivotal part in making my experience complete with a feeling that I am truly living a German dream.

Beer In India

Beer: For India, by India, to India