The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 in the United States of America is a big leap for the sport in a country where cricket doesn't have that level of popularity. USA is the co-host for one of the biggest sporting events in the world along with the Caribbean and it will also be a test of the International Cricket Council (ICC) trying to take the game deeper into the markets where cricket is not the first sport. The first big step from the ICC was to sanction a T20 League (Major League Cricket) and then make USA the co-hosts of the T20 World Cup and then build a modular stadium in New York to get the American public closer to the action.
With T20 World Cup, the second season of the MLC and a new Legends League (Legends Intercontinental T20 League) scheduled to be held in the USA, there is a systematic plan to slowly get the American public introduced to the sport. How long it will take for them to get used to... is everybody's guess but many cricketers, former and current, believe that it is a step in the right direction keeping the sport's qualification into the Olympics in mind, which will be played in Los Angeles.
Virat Kohli, one of the biggest crowd pullers in the game currently, suggested that the T20 World Cup might be the star of the domino effect of what's to come in the future for the sport in the country. Kohli, who visited US Consulate in Mumbai before leaving for the tournament, said that he never thought cricket will get to USA in any format, but here we are.
“Honestly, I never thought we would be playing cricket in any form in the States. But now it’s a reality. And 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," Kohli said in a video shared by US Consulate.
“I think it’s a great start. It’s the ideal way to begin and it’s going to have a huge impact, and in starting off a kind of a domino effect. I hope it carries on for a long period of time,” he added.
“We have enough people from our regions to keep the game up and alive in the States and make the others more aware about what it feels like to play and watch cricket. And I think it’s got great potential, with the MLC as well. There is already franchise cricket happening there. So I think, it’s moving in the right direction,” Kohli further said.
