I hardly like cricket and playing soccer has been one of my most dreaded nightmares. I wonder why people enjoy dribbling the ball and then scoring it into the net. Plunging into the pool of cold water and then stretching the arms to reach the other end is what I hate most.

How do these ridiculous acts prove to be recreation? Karate, volleyball, lawn tennis, baseball, athletics, squash and many more — they are nothing more than a stale comedy routine for me. I admit that I bunked most of my playoffs as a school student. All of these so-called impressive games of sports persuade both the physically gifted and keen game players to use their leisure fruitfully and experience gratification and success. But I stand out as an exception.

My craze for sports is not less than that of yours! I may not be sporty just because I am lazy. Sports can, however, keep hold of my attention unlike any other topic under the sun. Sitting on the sofa and scrutinising the players’ endeavour in any of the matches has been one of my favourite pastimes. Flipping through the pages of the newspapers to check out the sports news and events happens to be a habitual act of mine. Whenever I am out for shopping, I prefer to purchase the T-shirts on which I see the ADIDAS logo. And yes, all day long I only dream about sports and the superstars.

I feel as if I’ve missed out on something if I don’t log on to the sport sites on the net. My dad keeps rebuking me for making the painted walls of my room tainted but how can I make him understand that I feel incomplete without the posters of Michael Schumacher

and Michael Owen. What else? Well, most of the nights, in my dreams, I even see athletes on the tracks in the Olympics and witness their incredible performances. I feel glad that, at least, I don’t need to pay for the tickets then.

ESPN or Star Sports is all that appears on the TV screen ever since I’ve given up the Cartoon Network. I love my vacations just because I can watch the most precious games in which new records are set.

I am really excited as the much-awaited World Cup football is up next in a few days. I would give up anything to sit beside the Germans and shout, “Go Ballack, go!”