ICC Men’s T20 World Cup: Cricket’s tryst with America

For ever and a day, the cricket world has viewed the United States of America as its final frontier. Here was the last untouched market. A South Asian diaspora with a love of the game and dollars to spend, bolstered by significant others from around the Commonwealth.There are enough people of English, Irish, South African and Caribbean origin in the USA to take the bat and ball game from the Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis and run with it. And yet, it has never quite happened. Most cricket lovers don’t know this, but the first international match was played between America and Canada in Bloomingdale Park, Manhattan, a good 33 years before England and Australia met in 1877. That encounter was not even classed as an international match at the time, but history tells us that it happened. Now, the International Cricket Council, in all its wisdom, has taken the Twenty20 World Cup to the United States of America and the Caribbean.

“Honestly, I never thought we would be playing cricket in any form in the states (USA), but now it’s a reality. That tells you about the growing impact of the sport in the world and the United States is more than willing to accept the change and be probably the first ones on a global scale to accept it, in a way, with the World Cup,” Virat Kohli, India’s shining light and probably the biggest name in the game, said in a video shared on social media by the US consulate in Mumbai.

“It’s a great start. It’s the ideal way to begin and it’s going to have a huge impact. In starting off, a kind of a domino effect and I hope it carries on for a long period of time.” For the tournament to taste any kind of success, though, India will have to do well and go deep. On paper, this should not be difficult. In the first round India are up against Canada, Ireland, Pakistan and the United States of America. Even a loss to arch-rivals Pakistan should ensure safe passage to the next round if India win the games they are expected to. And, yet, the tournament’s success is far from guaranteed. Australia, the West Indies, England and South Africa all have teams that can power through. But, all eyes will be on India, at least initially.

Rohit Sharma leads a strong team that includes Virat Kohli, the man who was the cynosure of all eyes at the recently concluded IPL. Kohli has runs to his name and has batted more adventurously than at any time in his career.

But, questions remain over India’s approach to the shortest format. Several young guns, notably Rinku Singh, the finisher extraordinaire, are not in the mix.

It’s also not clear how India will fit the free-hitting Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal into a packed eleven. Dube is the best hitter against spin and Jaiswal is the most uncrowded of India’s young players.

But, if Jaiswal is to play in his customary opening slot, one of Rohit or Kohli must drop down the order and this is unlikely. In the event this does happen, there is no room for Dube in the middle-order, even though he can hold one end up with his medium-pace.

India have chosen to go into this tournament with four frontline spinners and Rohit proclaimed at the time of selection that all will be revealed in due course. It’s clear that India are expecting to play on slow, low pitches in their morning games in the early part of the tournament, but this should not shape their overall strategy.

In the last few outings, India have been strong in global tournaments without going the distance. If anything, this Indian team has fallen short of winning the big prize, even when being favourites. There is no silverware in the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s offices since the 2011 World Cup. At the World Cup, Jasprit Bumrah will be the main man, even if he does not walk away with all the laurels. His bowling will be critical, his overs devastating. And then there is Kuldeep Yadav with his left-arm all sorts. Neither of these names top the charts and yet they are integral to India’s chances. This World Cup may not take the game to the United States of America, but it can be useful in reminding the world that protecting what you have may be as valuable as scoping new horizons.