Visakhapatnam: “Cricket is looking up. The next big thing in the US is cricket,” said Vijay Mellela, member of the ICC development panel in the US and Tarakeswara Rao Janapareddy, a qualified umpire, as the ICC T20 World Cup begins in the US and the West Indies on June 2.Both are immigrants from India. Tarakeswar is from Visakhapatnam. They are now officiating in the practice matches. Cricket has been making its presence felt in the US since 1965. But the game prospered since 1990s thanks to the large number of IT professionals who have migrated there.Noted players like Unmukt Chand, Harpreet Singh, Smith Patel and D Shiva Kumar from Visakhapatnam (member of the World Cup winning U-19 team and a former Ranji player) are involved in the game now.What the cricket lovers in the US believe is the game would certainly get a boost if the US Olympic Committee recognises the game as an Olympic sport ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics which would bring sports scholarships in college. Microsoft’s Satya Nadella has also hinted at supporting the game.The Major and Minor leagues are immensely helping the game in the country. Players from India, Pakistan, the neighbouring West Indies, Britain, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and other countries are the active participants. Since 2019 the US is playing ODIs and played in the U-19 World Cup held in the US in 2022.Venu Pisike, who migrated from AP, is the chairman and few more Telugu people are on the USA Cricket. Srinivas Salver (former Hyderabad age group player), Anj Bulusu and Arjun Gona are among them while Kuldip Singh Najjar, who hails from Vizianagaram, was head of the USA Cricket before Venu.
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