With the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 kicking off on 2 June (IST) at Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas between the USA and Canada, excitement is at its peak in the United States. This is the first time that a country known for basketball and baseball is hosting a popular sport like cricket.
Aiming to create massive awareness about the sport in the USA, star players like Virat Kohli will promote cricket and be part of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Already considered a batting legend, India’s star cricketer Kohli, while speaking about playing in the USA, said he never thought that he would be playing in the States. He also hailed the USA for accepting the change and being among the first to do it.
“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,” HT quoted Kohli as saying in a video message.
According to him the T20 World Cup in the USA will be the start of a domino effect.
“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,” the 35-year-old added.
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On the emergence of cricket in the USA, Kohli mentioned that with the franchise league tournament MLC already taking place, cricket has a big potential to grow in the USA.
“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,” he stated.
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Published: 01 Jun 2024, 03:18 PM IST