By Sahil Kohli
Atlanta [US], May 9 : Venu Pisike, the Chairman of USA cricket, said on Wednesday that the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup this year to be held in West Indies and the United States will bring a lot of awareness about the sport in the country and he also opened up on challenges USA faces as a cricketing nation.
The T20 World Cup will start on June 1 and will be played in Venues in the USA and the Caribbean. The final will be held on June 29 in Barbados. 16 matches of the tournament will be hosted in the USA at three stadiums, Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, Central Broward Park in Florida and Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas. Notably, arch-rivals India and Pakistan will lock horns in a highly-anticipated clash in New York on June 9, which will feature superstars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammed Rizwan etc.
Speaking to ANI, Pisike said that the T20 World Cup will bring a lot of awareness about the sport and raise its popularity among the expatriate community, which features a lot of people from Asia.
“It will bring awareness and popularize the sport in the country, beyond the expats. We have seen people reaching out to get involved in the World Cup, there is a lot of interest from government officials. They want to attend the India vs USA game. This World Cup is an opportunity to grow the sport in the country and satisfy the appetite of millions of cricket fans that exist in the country. Also, it will test the waters as to how the American community will receive the sport and help us focus on bringing more such events to US,” he said.
Venu also said that the T20 WC’s USA leg also serves as a warm-up to the return of cricket after 128 years to the Olympics, which will take place in 2028 in Los Angeles.
“It will be a warm-up in terms of checking the popularity, and ability to host the games. It will help us build and grow the sport in the country,” he said.
The chairman also said that the USA, though the country is a developed one, is still climbing its way up in the cricketing ladder. He said that the key challenge for USA as a cricketing nation is to keep up with the huge expectations attached to it because people see the country as a land of massive opportunities and resources.
“A lot more needs to be done in cricket. With increased popularity, opportunities and ICC naming us among their strategic areas for coming years, it will happen. Investment from ICC in coming years will help us meet those expectations,” he added.
Venu also said that since many years, cricket is popular among the expat community and is enjoyed by them mainly during the weekends. He also spoke about the lack of domestic cricket structure in the country and how it is being changed now through the starting of the Minor League Cricket, the Major League Cricket franchise tournament and planning to implement pathway structures for age-group and men’s/women’s cricket.
“For many decades, cricket is popular among expats and is a weekend game. People play it in weekends to enjoy their passion. But in the last 20 years, the national team has been performing well at the world stage. There is a lack of competitive domestic structure, like the first-class and List-A tournaments. It did not help in building the teams. But with the start of Minor League Cricket (A T20 developmental league), during the pandemic, it helped to develop a lot of professional and international cricketers. Some players from other countries made the US their home and it provided a learning opportunity to domestic players here,” he said.
“We have also started a domestic structure pathway program at junior level. Cricket is played across the country, mostly in pockets where expats live in the metros. Some states have heavy cricket and some do not. We need to strike balance in terms of administrating cricket in various zones and states. Domestic tournaments are being organised with the help of lot of volunteers. As far as national tournaments, we have increased them since last year. We have plans to implement the pathways for age groups and women and men. In a couple of years, we are trying to establish a List-A tournament to develop more pro cricketers,” he added.
On the Major League Cricket (MLC), a franchise T20 tournament which features franchises invested in by the Indian Premier League (IPL) team owners like Texas Super Kings (TSK), LA Knight Riders, MI New York etc, Venu said that the league has helped US Cricket a lot.
“It will help a lot. The last year was the inaugural season and it was good. As the league expands and infrastructure develops, it will serve as entertainment for fans and give infrastructure for high-level tournaments. It will produce awareness to pick up cricket as a sport,” he concluded.
Major League Cricket (MLC) on Tuesday announced its schedule for the 2024 season, with reigning champions MI New York, led by West Indies T20 superstar Kieron Pollard against the runners-up of 2023, Seattle Orcas, captained by South African all-rounder Wayne Parnell clashing in the opening game on July 5.
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