“You do not know what you are witnessing. This is World War III.”
I was told this as I sat down for my first cricket match. It was India vs. Pakistan, and the fan sitting next to me was explaining the meaning of the rivalry. Rushabh, who traveled from Chicago to New York to support India, said beating Pakistan would be just as amazing as winning the tournament.
The tournament in question was the Men’s T20 World Cup, hosted by the United States in partnership with the West Indies. It was the first time a cricket event of this magnitude had been held here and, being a sports enthusiast and curious person, I was keen to check it out. I knew very little about sports, but it didn’t take any expertise, just a superficial knowledge of world politics, to know that India vs Pakistan was the match to watch.
I drove 30 miles from Brooklyn to Nassau County, Long Island for the game, but I also met many fans who had come from as far away as New Jersey, Toronto, Atlanta and Los Angeles. One Indian supporter held up a sign that read, “I drove 2000km for this game!”
The Athletic turned to cricket (Michael Dominski/The Athletic)
As soon as I arrived at the stadium, I felt like I was at a festival. A sea of color unfolded before me, dominated by the blue and orange of the Indian fans, with the occasional splash of Pakistan’s green and white. There was more chanting, laughter and dancing than I’ve ever seen at a sporting event. Several fans wore neon green and blue afro wigs, and there were more flags from both countries than I could count.
The cricket rivalry between India and Pakistan is one of the fiercest in world sport. In the past, supporters of both teams have clashed and losses have drawn strong domestic reactions. But that was not what I saw in the friendly exchanges I witnessed. The fist-bumping was at its most intense. The national anthems of each side were respected. There was also little booing or heckling, which is not to be expected from my experience watching football.
I witnessed huge parties. Every six hit like a home run was celebrated with a huge celebration, every wicket like an out in baseball with even bigger celebrations. Harsh, an India fan from Toronto sitting near me, celebrated every time, running up and down the aisles with strangers. Music blared in the stadium even when the ball was not in play, and I witnessed some of the worst dad dancing imaginable.
Despite all the fans around us being strangers, there was an instant camaraderie, something I’d never experienced at any other sporting event. When they found out I was reporting at my first cricket match, they became my teacher for the day. Hirsch echoed the others in saying I’d picked the best match. “It’s either this one or England v Australia,” he said. “But they’re more polite and we’re more expressive.”
Politics never intruded on the experience of the match, but it was always there. Planes circled the stadium bearing messages such as “Free Imprisoned Pakistani Former Prime Minister and Cricket Star Imran Khan.” I saw signs bearing the same message and fans wearing jerseys with Khan’s face printed on the front. As I entered the stadium, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York shook hands with fans and posed for photos.
Schumer meets with Indian fans (Michael Dominski/The Athletic)
The only mistake I made that day in the stands was asking a fan if he knew the score of the French Open men’s tennis final. He looked at me as if I’d just told a funny joke. “There are only two sports I care about,” he replied, but another fan interjected: “Cricket and cricket! Cricket is a religion.”
If cricket is a religion, the T20 World Cup is a missionary effort. The sport’s global governing body, the ICC, is making a concerted effort to grow its following in the U.S. Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, with more than a billion fans, but the U.S. offers more opportunity for revenue growth than any other country. Formula 1 is coming to the U.S. for the same reason.
Whether the sport will truly take root here is another matter. Living in Brooklyn, the marketing for the T20 World Cup taking place in my backyard was irrelevant to me. Athleticyou wouldn’t have known that was happening.
While the shock victory of the United States over Pakistan on Thursday certainly garnered attention, the tournament has not yet penetrated the public consciousness. It took soccer decades to gain a genuine following in the United States, and it is unlikely that the process will move any faster for cricket.
The good news for those looking to attract new cricket fans in the U.S. is that the sport isn’t as foreign to Americans as it may seem. Cricket has many striking similarities to baseball, including home runs, sixes and wickets that are similar to outs, and the use of different outfield positions depending on the batsman. It also features the switch-hit and replay review challenge systems that Americans have become so familiar with.
During rain delays, the centre of the pitch was covered with tarpaulins and during pre-match preparations the stadium announcer even likened the India-Pakistan rivalry to that of the Red Sox and Yankees. And like MLB’s recently introduced pitch clock, T20 is a relatively new format, drastically shortening game time to attract younger fans.
Fan behavior, while enthusiastic and festive, doesn’t seem particularly unusual. I became a new cricket fan, and not just because I enjoy eating chicken tikka masala at the match. The match was a thrilling rollercoaster of emotions. At least 90% of the sold-out crowd of over 34,000 were Indian supporters, and the Indian team lost the coin toss to bat first. The party atmosphere continued for a while, but then the excitement started to die down as the Indian batsmen struggled to score runs.
This form of cricket resembles an innings baseball game, with the first team to bat scoring and the second to chase. India finished with 119 runs and coach Rushabh said “that’s it,” giving his team just a 10 percent chance of winning. Pakistani supporters partied, and one near me waved goodbye to the opposition as others sang and danced around them.
Rushav and The Athletic (Michael Dominski/The Athletic)
But not all Indian fans have lost hope. When I asked if India still had a chance, another fan next to me replied, “Of course!” Harsh, a supporter from Toronto, told me that Pakistan were like his beloved Maple Leafs: “They can’t play under pressure.”
The atmosphere for India goes quiet as Pakistan begin batting, but the crowd comes alive again when the first wicket is taken and they survive a replay review. The party is in full swing by the time India take their fourth wicket. Pakistan fall just short.
When India took their sixth wicket with six balls left for Pakistan to score, a comeback was all but certain. A wave of mixed joy and relief swept over me and I couldn’t help but join in.
Many of the Pakistani fans look visibly sad but don’t seem to begrudge the result. One supporter sitting behind me is disappointed but generous enough to accept that the better team won.
Indian songs blared from the stadium speakers, the singing reaching its peak that day, and as I left the stadium, it was clear to me that I was the sport’s newest devotee.
The World Cup is almost over, but Major League Cricket, the US’s professional T20 league, will begin its second season shortly afterward in 2023. Looking further ahead, the sport is set to be played at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles for the first time since 1900. As cricket searches for new fans, only one question remains: “Who’s with me?”
