After a dazzling, dramatic and pulsating match between India And Pakistan that even includes, it seems, co-hosting a T20 World Cup.
This was the match. Not just any match, but The match on which the success of the US leg of this jamboree effectively hung.
The International Cricket Council will be happy their American dream has become a reality even if the rain, at one point, threatened to make it a damp squib.
Fans got drenched before play started but most were not in the slightest bit bothered by the lack of cover in the open stands.
Who cares about the weather? I’m going to see Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah!” Arjun, who lives in New Jersey, excitedly said after the showers relented.
He was one of 34,028 who packed into a pop-up stadium, built at a cost of $32m. Regardless of whether this event turns a profit cricket’s reawakening in the US looks set to gather pace.
The desire to be at a India v Pakistan match was such that it could have been sold out several times over.
Citi Field, the home of New York Mets baseball team, was opened for fans unable to get in Nassau County International Cricket Stadium to watch a game on the big screen,
No charge, but the MLB marketing men are not soft. Just as the ICC want its piece of the American pie, cricket’s cousin is desperate to grab its slice of the South Asian market.
The ticket prices were a little steep for this game but I guess it’s supply versus demand,” said Irfan, a Pakistan fan, who had done an overnight drive from Toronto to make the fixture.
He was one of the few who got lucky in the ballot. Others paid up to $2,000 (approx £1,571) on resale platforms, although prices dropped considerably as the game edged closer.
The devotion of the South Asian diaspora in the United States to playing, attending and watching cricket matches in the US is what can sustain it.
Hafeez, a Pakistan fan from Coventry, sat with his five-month baby in a pram on the steps of the stand as he watched the action unfold in the middle having won tickets in a competition.
“You can see from the passion of the fans what cricket means,” he said.
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