June 7: Fabulous beaches and night life apart, Lauderhill in Florida, close to Miami, offer tourists plenty of attractions, including riverfront gondola and harbor boat tours; sport fishing charters. There’s also the Funky Buddha Brewery, the state’s largest craft brewery, to have a relaxing time. This August though, for two days, and more, the town is going to be inundated by Indian cricket fans from all over the US especially, who would be eager to watch their favorite stars in action against the West Indies, in two T20I matches, to be played over two consecutive days, on August 6th, and 7th.
For many in India and for fans around the world, cricket has been a source of great entertainment and a stress buster during the last two years of the pandemic. And while there’s been no dearth of top notch international and IPL cricket savored on TV, there’s nothing like actually going to a ground to watch stars like Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah in action.
Check out India’s full schedule with the West Indies at ESPN.
Over the years, India has only played four T20I matches in the US, all of them at Lauderhill, and only against the West Indies. India has won two, lost one, and one match was abandoned. The venue has proved to be a high scoring one, with the highest score recorded by the West Indies against India, in the first ever match between the two in the US. The Windies scored 245, and India lost by a mere 1 run, totaling 244. Rohit Sharma has been the top run scorer for India, getting 182 runs in the four matches he played. Check the stats here
There is no doubt that cricket is destined to be a popular sport in the US – with a domestic version of the shortest form likely to even rival the IPL, fast tracked as it is by the ICC decision to conduct the T20 World Cup in 2024 in the West Indies, and US. More importantly is money pouring in from credible investors, who clearly see the big picture for the huge evolution of the sport here. That story in case you missed it, in ESPN reported: “Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft and a part-owner of the Seattle Sounders franchise in Major League Soccer, has been announced as a lead investor in a $44 million Series A and A1 fundraising round by Major League Cricket (MLC), the six-team franchise T20 competition sanctioned by USA Cricket through its commercial partner ACE, which is targeted to launch in 2023.
“According to a press release issued by MLC on Wednesday, another $76 million has been pledged by investors for a total of $120 million to be utilised primarily for stadium infrastructure projects over the next several years.”
Top Indian talent have of late been heading to the shores of the US to play Minor League Cricket, including Unmukt Chand. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if over the next few years, T20 matches in the US unearth rare talent like the pace sensation Umran Malik, who was discovered in the 2022 IPL, and included in the India team to face South Africa in the T20I series.