Cricket may finally be getting some attention in the US
The United States men’s cricket team delivered a shocking defeat to powerhouse Pakistan in a closely fought game that went into extra time in a T20 World Cup match in Texas on Thursday.
Group games for the tournament, which the United States is co-hosting with the West Indies, were played at a former minor league baseball stadium in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, one of three U.S. venues for the tournament.
Cricket fans around the world are calling the win one of the biggest upsets in sports history, with NPR’s “All Things Considered” co-host Juana Summers likening it to “the Boston Red Sox losing to the Durham Bulls, a minor league baseball team from North Carolina.”
The crowd was made up mostly of green-shirted Pakistani supporters who left the stadium disappointed with their country’s performance but impressed with the U.S. team, said Aziz Rajwani, 58, a Karachi immigrant who lives in Colleyville, Texas.
“They had a lot of respect. The crowd was cheering,” Rajwani told NBC News on Friday. “Yes, they were angry at their team, certainly the Pakistani fans were, but at the same time, they had a lot of respect for this American team.”
He said the U.S. team is now “the talk of the town and the world.”
This historic American victory Cricket is still considered a very niche sport in the United States, played mainly among immigrants from the Caribbean and South Asian countries, but does not enjoy the same acclaim here.
“Being the first player to play in the game after beating Pakistan, I’m really proud of the way we played today,” said USA captain Monankh Patel, who was named man of the match. “Obviously, beating Pakistan in the World Cup opens up a lot of possibilities for us.”
The win over Pakistan is all the more remarkable because the American players, who have day jobs and are on the team part-time, will be playing against a team that won the T20 World Cup in 2009, finished runner-up when the tournament began in 2007 and finished runner-up again in 2022.
Most of the U.S. players are of South Asian or Caribbean descent, and some have previously played for India or the West Indies.
Saurabh Netravalkar, an Oracle engineer and American bowler, is already a celebrity in India, having previously played for the Indian junior team.
“I’m very proud of the team and our engineering and cricket stars,” Oracle said. X said in his post.
The U.S. victory is good news for the International Cricket Council, which chose the country to co-host the tournament in hopes of boosting American interest in cricket. As a result, the U.S. team automatically qualified for the tournament, which will be the team’s first time participating in the event.
“This is the only way to grow cricket in America,” former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan said in a post on X after Pakistan’s defeat.
Few Americans actually witnessed this historic moment in person: The game was not broadcast on U.S. television and the stadium only had capacity for around 7,000 people.
“America put in a great performance. They were better than us in every aspect of the game,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said after the match.
