Bengaluru, July 5: It's going to be a binge watch Friday (July 6) for sports buffs. High profile football and cricket events will embrace you post evening, cranking up the adrenaline.
If you are a football fan, the rush hour will begin at 7.30 pm when France take on Uruguay in the first quarterfinals match at the FIFA World Cup and it will be aired live on Sony Ten channels. There are injury concerns over crack Uruguayan duo of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani but, rest assured, that will not be a spoilsport.
France have a collection of glittering talent to brighten the Nizhny ground. Kylian Mbappe, who scored two sublime goals and earned a penalty against Argentina, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Paul Pogba, Benjamin Pavard, Ngole Kante...it's a list that can rival an A-List guest roster of a Hollywood award night.
If that's not enough. Then we have the second T20I between India and England from Cardiff at 10 pm and it will be live on Sony Network. Having taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with a commanding win at Manchester, Virat Kohli's band will be eager to seal the series at the Sophia Gardens.
In terms of talent, both the sides are equally matched. India have some limited overs aristocracy in MS Dhoni, Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and the new kid on the block KL Rahul, who dismantled England with a hundred at Old Trafford, and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, whose five-wicket burst left England limp.
And England boast of some power players like Jos Buttler, who was such a brute force in IPL 2018 for Rajasthan Royals, Jonny Bairstow, Alex Hales, skipper Eoin Morgn and the classy Joe Root. India may look favourites on paper after that resounding win in the first match but writing off England on the basis one modest outing could be a massive error.
"The best #WorldCup by far"
— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) July 5, 2018
Find out why fans, players, coaches and journalists alike have been lauding the tournament and the Russian people 😍🇷🇺
👉 https://t.co/FiRufzDkkg pic.twitter.com/M6qkBviINz
But the sports fan in you will be caught in a big inner conflict as five-time champions Brazil will face Belgium from 11.30 pm in the second FIFA World Cup quarterfinals tie in Kazan. Would you swap the big hits and eccentricities of a T20 for a potentially soul-stirring 90 minutes of wizardry by Brazil and Belgium?
Perhaps, you will require a finger massage after the night thanks to all that constant pressing on the remote button. So, stoke up plenty of coffee and stay awake!