While cricket arrived in the US along with migrants from England, and the first ‘international’ match on American soil—Canada versus US—was played in 1844, the country has since snubbed cricket, forging its own distinct sporting culture through baseball, basketball and American football.
Spreading cricket to the Americas has been a long-standing desire of the International Cricket Council. Primarily for monetary reasons, but also to expand the horizons of cricket. Though immigrants brought cricket with them to America, it was only after those from the subcontinent, particularly India, reached a critical population mass and had substantive disposable income, that cricket in the US got a fillip.
Whether the US turns out to be the El Dorado for cricket will depend on how this tournament pans out, and more particularly on how India fares. A fine show by India, perchance a title win, would create a more dazzling aura for cricket that would not only hook Indian-Americans further, but also spread the gospel of cricket to people from various other countries in the melting pot that is the US.
On the field, India face the challenge of living up to the reputation of being the most powerful cricketing nation, not just in the corridors of power, but also on the field of play. In 2007, when the T20 World Cup started, India were surprise winners. Since then, they have not won the title. In fact, since 2013, India have not won any ICC Trophy. For Rohit Sharma and his team, correcting that record should be top priority.
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