7 – Red/Yellow Penalty Cards

 only field and replace an injured player. The original player can return to the game as soon as recovered from the injury.

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7 – Red/Yellow Penalty Cards

Red penalty card in football – (Image Credit – “Red Card” by wjarrettc is licensed under CC BY 2.0)

This is one of the major differences between the two sports. Yellow and red cards are used in football to discipline players for their misconduct during the game. 

A yellow card is used as a warning for minor misconduct, while a red card results in the player’s dismissal from the field of play, and the side is forced to play with a player less.  Also, if a player receives two yellow cards in one game, it is as good as receiving a red card.

Though in cricket the players are fined for their misconducts, there was no penalty card system till 2017. In 2017, a new law was introduced to empower umpires to show red cards to a cricketer in case of some serious misconducts like threatening an umpire, physically assaulting another player, umpire, official, or spectator, or any other act of violence on the field of play. There are no yellow penalty cards in cricket.

What are the Similarities between Cricket and Football?

Yes, there are a few similarities between the two sports. Cricket and Football are the two most popular sports in the world. Both are outdoor or field games.

Both are team games with 11 players a side actively playing in the match. Use of the toss, balls, substitute players, keepers (goalkeeper and wicketkeeper) who save or grab the ball using gloves are among the other similarities.

The referees in football are similar to umpires in cricket. In football, there is one referee and two assistant referees, while in cricket we have two field umpire and one television-umpire or the third umpire.

Final Thoughts

Cricket is called a gentlemen’s game while football can get very rough at times. That’s the inherent nature of both the games. Though played in fewer countries, cricket has gathered tremendous viewership and fan-following over time, mainly from the Indian sub-continent, England and Australia.

While the legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar is treated like a god by cricket fans, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo have got incredible popularity and respect through football. Players like these contribute to the increase in the worldwide popularity of any sports to a great extent. No wonder these are the two most followed sports across the globe!

Shrot Katewa

Shrot is an avid cricket fan! He has played and endorsed the sport ever since he was in School. In fact, he played as a professional cricketer represented his state team in National Indoor Cricket Championship held in Pune, India. Shrot loves the game, loves talking to other people who play the game and share his learnings with other interested individuals. He is the founder of CricketMastery.com. This website is a culmination of his desire to help others understand this wonderful Game of Cricket!