ootball is just not cricket. To understand why, let's take a look at the most recent World Cups - the 2022 Football World Cup and the 2022 T20 World Cup. The T20 World Cup ended on 13 November, while the Football World Cup started a week later, on 20th November.

1. Format

There is only one format of football played all over the world - two halves of 45 minutes each. There are no shorter forms in football. The World Cup is held once every four years.

There are multiple formats in cricket - test cricket, 50-overs cricket, 20-overs cricket, 100-ball cricket. Each of these has either a championship or its own World Cup. The T20 World Cup is held every two years.

2. Number of Teams

The 2022 Football World Cup had twice the number of participating countries (32) as compared to the T20 World Cup (16).

This is because almost all the around 200 countries in the world have international football teams. In contrast, there are only 12 test cricket playing countries in the world. Football is a global game, while cricket has been unable to shake its Commonwealth roots.

3. Prize Money

There is no contest here. The total prize money offered by the 2022 Football World Cup is $440 million. The total prize money offered by the 2022 T20 World Cup was $5.6 million.

To put it in perspective, the last placed team in the Football World Cup gets more prize money ($9 million) than the total prize money offered to all the teams in the T20 World Cup.

4. Global Game vs. Commonwealth Game

In the 2022 Football World Cup, after the pool matches, every continent had a representation in the round of 16, as can be seen in the table below. 12 of the 16 countries that made it to the Football World Cup knockout stage do not play international cricket.

In the T20 World Cup Super 12, the continents of South America and North America were absent, with zero representation.

Continent	Football Round of 16	T20 Super 12
Africa	Morocco, Senegal	South Africa, Zimbabwe
Asia	Japan, South Korea	Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Europe	Croatia, England, France, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland	England, Ireland, Netherlands
Oceania	Australia	Australia, New Zealand
North America	USA
South America	Argentina, Brazil

5. Television Viewership

The 2018 Football World Cup in Russia was watched by a combined 3.572 billion viewers. The 2022 Football World Cup has a projected audience of 5 billion viewers.

The 2021 T20 World Cup had a television reach of 167 million users. For the 2022 T20 World Cup, the majority of the television viewing public is from South Asia - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Interestingly, South Asia's football world rankings are 106 (India), 192 (Bangladesh), 194 (Pakistan), 207 (Sri Lanka).

In terms of television viewer experience, the Football World Cup games were advertisement-free, with the viewer able to watch each half of 45 minutes without interruption. In the T20 World Cup, there were advertisements galore - at the end of each over, after each wicket, and at drink breaks.

Rani Rampal played 12 minutes in her 250th game - her entire playing time for 2022

he national coach should always have the right to select players, and rightly so. By that same token, the coach should be held accountable if the team consistently performs below its potential at major tournaments.

Let's see how this is applicable in the case of Indian women's hockey coach Janneke Schopman.

Tournament 1: Women's World Cup in Spain and Netherlands (July 1 - 17)

India couldn't qualify for the quarterfinals after failing to win even a single game in their group. India won only 1 match in the entire tournament, and converted just 5 out of 46 penalty corners, to finish joint 9th.

In the span of an year, India went from 4th in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics all the way down to 9th in the 2022 World Cup.

Star striker Rani Rampal was not selected for the World Cup. Rani was out of action until March of this year after the Olympics owing to a hamstring injury. In a European tour prior to the World Cup, Rani Rampal got 12 minutes of playing time in a match against Belgium in what was her 250th game for India. Those 12 minutes turned out to be the entire playing time given to Rani in 2022.

Tournament 2: Commonwealth Games Hockey in Birmingham (July 28 - August 8)

India settled for bronze, losing to England in the pool and to Australia in the semi-final.

Star striker Rani Rampal was not selected for the Commonwealth Games too. Hockey fans started questioning the continued absence of Rani. After all, how long does a hamstring injury take to heal?

Tournament 3: FIH Nations Cup in Valencia, Spain (December 10 - 17)

Leading in to the Nations Cup, the National Games were held in Rajkot from October 2 - 11. Captain Rani Rampal of Hariyana was the top scorer at the National Games, with 18 goals. This included two hat-tricks, all 5 Hariyana goals in the semifinals, and the gold-medal winning goal in the final.

Hariyana coach Meenakshi had the following to say: "Rani was brilliant as captain and rallied the team together. Look at her form - she scored in every match. I couldn't have asked for more from her."

At 27, Rani is is at the top of her game, as her success at the National Games has shown. Rani has no injury issues plaguing her.

However, India coach Janneke Schopman had the following to say: "I watched Rani Rampal play in the National Games 2022. I know she is an ambitious player and intends to play for the country. She is a great athlete with a great mindset. But I have 33 players, and I have to pick the best 20 among them."

Rani Rampal in not in the Indian team for the Nations Cup - her third non-selection in a row. At least in the eyes of her coach, Rani is not currently among the top 20 players in the country.

The Nations Cup is a test for Janneke Schopman. If India wins the FIH Nations Cup, thus automatically qualifying for the 2023-24 Hockey Pro League, we will admit that the coach's decision is right and she can continue to exercise her prerogative to select her team.

However, if India fails to win the FIH Nations Cup where it is the second highest ranked team, then this will be the third consecutive tournament in 2022 where India would have under-performed.

In such a scenario, it will be three strikes and out for Janneke Schopman as coach of the Indian women's hockey team.

Three touches to a goal - Hardik Singh trisects 3 Australia players to find Mandeep who passes to Akashdeep who scores a reverse hit goal
Photograph credit Vinayak

orld no. 5 India played a 5-test series against world no. 1 Australia at the Mate Stadium in Adelaide. This series between the silver and bronze medallists from the Tokyo Olympics were part of the preparations for both teams for the upcoming World Cup in Bhubanesvar and Rourkela.

Australia won the 5-test series 4-1, with match results as shown below:

Date	Result	Goal Scorers - India
Nov 26	Australia 5 - India 4	Akashdeep Singh (10, 27, 59 min) Harmanpreet Singh (31 min), PC
Nov 27	Australia 7 - India 4	Harmanpreet Singh (3, 60 min), both PCs Hardik Singh (25 min) Mohammad Raheel Mouseen (36 min), PC
Nov 30	India 4 - Australia 3	Harmanpreet Singh (12 min), PC Abhishek (47 min), PC Shamsher Singh (57 min), PC Akashdeep Singh (60 min)
Dec 3	Australia 5 - India 1	Dilpreet Singh (25 min)
Dec 4	Australia 5 - India 4	Harmanpreet Singh (24, 60 min), both PCs Amit Rohidas (34 min) Sukhjeet Singh (55 min)

India is unable to solve the mystery of Australia, who are the only team who have tennis-like scores againt India. The 2010 Commonwealth Games Final is still a nightmare: 8-0 loss. The Tokyo Olympics mauling: 7-1 loss. 2022 Commonwealth Games rout: 7-0 loss. 2nd test of the current 5-test series: 7-4 loss.

The series was broadcast live on Fox Sports in Australia, and on Star Sports First and Star Sports Select 1 in India.

The 23-member Indian men's team for the 5-test series with Australia was as follows:

Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh

Midfielders: Sumit, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Shamsher Singh, Neelakantha Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Mohammad Raheel Mouseen, Akashdeep Singh, Gurjant Singh

Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Amit Rohidas (vice-captain), Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Varun Kumar

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh

Coach: Graham Reid

Karthi Selvam scores his second goal in India's 7-4 win over New Zealand on 4 November

he second leg of the 2022-23 FIH Men's Pro League matches between India, New Zealand and Spain were held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubanesvar from November 4-6. The Pro League is being conducted as a series of mini 3-nation matchups, where a set of 3 teams will gather in one host nation and play their home-and-away matches against each other, setting up 6 games per mini-tournament.

The results of world no. 5 India's matches against no. 8 Spain and no. 9 New Zealand in the second leg of matches are given below.

Date	Result	Goal Scorers - India
Nov 4	India 7 - New Zealand 4	Harmanpreet Singh (6, 18 min), both PCs, Selvam Karthi (16, 37 min) Rajkumar Pal (30 min) Sukhjeet Singh (49 min) Jugraj Singh (52 min), PC
Nov 6	India 2 - Spain 2 (3-1 SO)	Harmanpreet Singh (12, 31 min), both PCs

In the shoot-out against Spain, Harmanpreet, Rajkumar Pal and Abhishek scored for India, while Pathak made excellent saves to deny Joaquin Menini, Rafael Vilallonga and Miralles to hand India the bonus point.

India's matches were broadcast on the Star Sports Select 2 and Select 2 HD channels.

The 22-member Indian men's team for the FIH Pro League matches against New Zealand and Spain was as follows:

Forwards: Selvam Karthi, Mandeep Singh, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh

Midfielders: Manpreet Singh (vice-captain), Sumit, Hardik Singh, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Shamsher Singh, Neelakantha Sharma, Rajkumar Pal, Mohammad Raheel Mouseen

Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Mandeep Mor, Neelam Sanjeep Xess

Goalkeepers: Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak

Indian Oil - victors of the 32nd Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament. Photo credit Sports India 13

he 32nd Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament was held from November 5 to 12 at Shivaji Stadium in Delhi.

8 teams took part in the men's tournament, and were grouped in two pools as follows:

• Pool A: Bharatiya Rail, Punjab National Bank, Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Bharatiya Khel Praadhikaran (SAI) - Delhi
• Pool B: Indian Oil, Bharatiya Vayu Sena, Delhi, Bharatiya Khel Praadhikaran (SAI) - Sonepat

Indian Oil won the Lal Bahadur Shastri hockey tournament with the following match results:

Stage	Date	Indian Oil	Date	Bharatiya Rail
Pool	Nov 6	beat Delhi 4-1	Nov 6	beat Comptroller and Auditor General of India 2-1
	Nov 8	drew with Bharatiya Vayu Sena 2-2	Nov 7	beat Punjab National Bank 4-0
	Nov 9	beat Bharatiya Khel Praadhikaran (SAI) - Sonepat 5-1	Nov 9	beat Bharatiya Khel Praadhikaran (SAI) - Delhi 6-2
Semis	Nov 11	beat Comptroller and Auditor General of India 2-0	Nov 11	beat Bharatiya Vayu Sena 3-1
Final	Nov 12	beat Bharatiya Rail 3-2

The winning team received ₹2 lakh, while the runners-up bagged a purse of ₹1 lakh.

The semi-finals and final were shown on Doordarshan Sports.

Photograph credit Bernama via The Star

he Photograph of the Month for December 2022 is of the Malaysian hockey team acknowledging the crowd after winning their first-ever Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Ipoh. It took 39 years for hosts Malaysia to crown themselves in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup glory.

The tournament has been an annual feature in the FIH calendar since 1998, having started life in 1983 as a biennial event. The event is named after HRH Sultan Azlan Shah, the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia, who sadly passed away in 2014.

This is the only annual invitiational hockey tournament in the world featuring national teams.

Malaysia's best achievement previously in the tournament was finishing as runners-up five times - in 1985, 2007, 2009, 2013 and 2014.

Malaysia swept four the five tournament awards:

• Man of the Final: Razie Abdul Rahim (Malaysia)
• Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Hafizuddin Othman (Malaysia)
• Top Scorer of the Tournament: Razie Abdul Rahim (Malaysia), 17 goals
• Player of the Tournament: Shello Silverius (Malaysia)
• Fair Play (Raja Ashman Shah Trophy): Japan

The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, presented the Malaysian team with the trophy.

nline ticket lines are open for the Men's Hockey World Cup, to be held in Bhubanesvar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29, 2023. This is the 15th edition of the Men's World Cup.

On the days when India is playing, match tickets are priced at ₹500 for the West Stand, ₹400 for the East Stand, and ₹200 for the North and South Stands. For non-India match days, tickets are priced at ₹500 for the West Stand, ₹200 for the East Stand and ₹100 for the North and South Stands.

Each ticket allows a spectator to watch the entire day’s proceedings at a venue.

Marking the 50-day countdown to the event, former India captain and Hockey India president Dileep Tirkey handed the first ticket of the World Cup to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubanesvar.

Online tickets can be ordered on the PayTM Insider site here - Bhubanesvar matches, Rourkela matches. For further details contact: help@insider.in.

The matches in Bhubanesvar will be played in the 16,000-capacity Kalinga Stadium, which was built in 2013. The matches in Rourkela will be built in the brand-new Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium. With a capacity of 20,000 seats, this is India's largest hockey arena.

he Delhi High Court has granted time to former Indian hockey team coach Sjoerd Marijne to file his response to lawsuits by two players (Manpreet Singh, Gurjeet Kaur) and Hockey India against the publication of his book.

While player Manpreet Singh had approached the high court claiming that Marijne's "Will Power: The Inside Story of the Incredible Turnaround in Indian Women's Hockey" by HarperCollins Publishers India Pvt. Ltd., contained defamatory content against him, Gurjeet Kaur asserted the book revealed information pertaining to her medical condition.

The court had earlier passed interim orders restraining the publication of the allegedly objectionable content in the book.

Advocate Vrinda Grover appeared for the former coach and made a good faith offer that since the book is yet to be published, the author was willing to re-write the allegedly objectionable content with respect to the players so that the case can be closed. She emphasised that the author was the coach to both the hockey players and has nurtured them, and that their goals are "not divorced from each other".

Justice Amit Bansal observed that the best course is to avoid further controversy, and asked the counsel for the players to bounce it off her clients. Advocate Shyel Trehan, appearing for the players, said that while she has not asked Gurjeet about this aspect, damage has been done to Manpreet and that lawsuit can't be given up.

The court was informed that the defendants would contest the lawsuit by Hockey India against the book on merits. According to Hockey India, the former coach's book is in breach of the Hockey India Code of Conduct and sanctions.

he December edition of records and statistics lists men's hockey players who have played in more than 400 hockey internationals.

• Dutch hockey legend Teun de Nooijer holds the record of most internationals, with 453
• Eddie Ockenden is the most recent entry to the 400 club. He reached the milestone during the second test of the 5-test India-Australia series this month
• Barry Middleton, Dileep Tirkey and Waseem Ahmed have played the maximum internationals without having won either an Olympic or World Cup gold
• John-John Dohmen and Eddie Ockenden are the only currently active players in the 400 club

	Player	Country	Internationals	Olympic Gold	World Cup Gold
	Teun de Nooijer	Netherlands	453	2 (1996, 2000)	1 (1998)
	John-John Dohmen	Belgium	435	1 (2020)	1 (2018)
	Barry Middleton	Great Britain	432	-	-
	Dilip Tirkey	India	412	-	-
	Waseem Ahmed	Pakistan	410	-	-
	Eddie Ockenden	Australia	403	-	2 (2010, 2014)
	Jeroen Delmee	Netherlands	401	2 (1996, 2000)	1 (1998)