College Cricket and Olympic Games – The future beyond the Sixty Strikes opening tournament of the National Cricket League

By Rifat Malik

“How do you grow the game?” asks NCL chairman Arun Agarwal. “In every sport you first involve the players and then the infrastructure. So we’re interacting with different cities, different states and stakeholders … as soon as we negotiate this week to expand infrastructure, not just in Dallas but in other cities like LA, Atlanta and Chicago.

Still on a sporting high, days after the 10-day Sixty Strikes tournament concluded, he is showing the kind of diligence and strategic thinking you would expect from an Indian-American entrepreneur who is CEO of Dallas-based Nextt, one of America’s largest home textile companies. .

Agarwal, appointed chairman of the Texas Economic Development Corporation last month by Governor Greg Abbott, outlines his grand plan to popularize the sport in the US. As he said, a key element is bringing in star players like Sir Vivian Richards, Suresh Raina, Shahid Afridi and Wasim Akram – just some of the legendary figures from the world’s second most watched game adored by the 2.6 billion fans. .

The announcement that the “God of Cricket” Sachin Tendulkar would be joining the NCL ownership group was another powerful boost to its credibility. The deity himself was in North Texas last week, mentoring aspiring young cricketers at the University of Texas at Dallas’ home stadium, appearing as guest of honor at a Dallas Cowboys home game and fittingly presenting the coveted Sixty Strikes trophy to Chicago CC, who defeated Atlanta convincingly in the Final.

“Cricket has been the greatest journey of my life, and I am thrilled to be joining the National Cricket League at such an exciting time for the sport in the US,” Tendulkar said during his visit. “The NCL’s vision to create a platform for world-class cricket while inspiring a new generation of fans resonates with me…”

Agarwal has already initiated a series of thorough debriefings of team owners, stakeholders, players and administrative staff and says he expects “big learnings” from the feedback to improve future tournaments. And there is no resting on the laurels of the company’s central driving force as he signals that the next target for American cricket is already in sight.

“We are going to introduce the College Cricket League, which is in line with our vision of expanding the game,” said Agarwal. “We have over 20 colleges that have already signed up for that… from Georgetown to Purdue, A&M, UT Dallas, to UCLA, have signed up… we plan to do it after March Madness in April.”

Partnerships are essential for Agarwal. NCL’s deal with UTD is believed to be the first between a national sports league and a university, and during the league it partnered with dozens of local organizations in North Texas with special nightly tributes to the Red Cross, veterans’ associations and home health nonprofits violence, such as CHETNA-DFW among others.

Unsurprisingly, for a game beloved across the Indian subcontinent, thousands of people from the local diaspora of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities came to watch the games, while millions more watched via the NCL app and online streaming.

While the International Cricket Council (ICC) gave its approval to the short format of NCL, it accredited the equivalent T10 or ten-over format cricket for a UAE national championship for the first time in 2018. However, Agarwal believes his group has developed a winning rebranding formula.

“I would keep repeating 60 strokes, just like in a 60-ball game,” he says. “T10 didn’t work out due to a number of challenges and so we wanted to brand it where the American sports fan understands what the game is and strikes are so familiar to them because of baseball.”

He believes that today, only a certain type or generation of die-hard fans will be willing to watch something like the classic five-day Test match series he grew up watching. The 90-minute period of the NCL will appeal to most people, including a younger demographic, in line with sports such as basketball and football, as well as soccer in the US. .”

Agarwal is also excited because cricket will be part of the Olympic Games for the first time in more than 120 years and America will be the host venue for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. With men’s and women’s T20 or 20+ models planned so far, there could be a possible shift to a shorter format.

“Cricket is part of the 2028 Olympics, but they still haven’t decided on the format… I hope one of the discussions could be that there is a shorter format, and if it happens it would be 60 balls are. That will really give validation to this game,” said Agarwal.

And like millions of fans of limited-over cricket, he believes the sport’s governing body is on the verge of accrediting T-10 or Sixty Strikes cricket for international tournaments. He says, “I think ICC will eventually adopt it as one of the official formats. ”

Many observers agree that cricket will boom in emerging markets like the US. Just days after the New Zealand women’s team’s historic victory over South Africa in the T20 World Cup in Dubai, the business mogul says the NCL will also launch its own women’s league. Meanwhile, league owners are also building stadiums in key cities where teams are based, such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.

“The global reach is phenomenal,” says Agarwal. “Cricket today is where football was 15 years ago, but it won’t be 15 years before cricket gets there. I give it three to four years, cricket will be one of the top sports, and our league will be one of the top sports leagues in this country.”