Cricket Takes Over Eisenhower Park as India Edges Pakistan in T20 World Cup Clash

The grassy southeast portion of Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York, is usually the scene of family picnics, softball games, and a few cricket players taking advantage of the nice weekend weather this time of year. That area served as a venue for one of the year's most widely viewed international athletic events on Sunday.

The most anticipated T20 Cricket World Cup match of India vs Pakistan drew more than 34,000 spectators and cricket dignitaries into a makeshift stadium constructed in the last three months in the Long Island park.

The mood was lively and celebratory for around three hours as supporters wearing blue and orange India shirts mixed with their (much outnumbered) foes dressed in dark green Pakistani shirts.

At every major play, they let out a roar, gesturing with placards and flags. On this historic day at the normally quiet park, they ate South Asian food from concession stands, jumped, chanted, gave each other high fives, and enjoyed the sunshine after a little rain.

Chandu Talla, an entrepreneur from Tampa, Florida and an enthusiast of India, described the match as "electric." He attended with his junior high school son Aryan. "We have no regrets—we paid $2,500 for each ticket," he continued. "Seeing India here was like seeing a dream come true."

India overcame a sluggish start to win 119-113, and when Pakistan's Naseem Shah struck the final ball bowled by India's Arshdeep Singh, the home crowd cheered.

On Sunday, June 9, 2024, the teams from India and Pakistan will compete in the Cricket World Cup at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York. Watching the most anticipated match of the T20 Cricket World Cup between India and Pakistan, over 34,000 spectators and cricket dignitaries crammed into a makeshift stadium constructed in the last three months on Long Island.
(The New York Times/Yuvraj Khanna)
Player of the Match and India bowler Jasprit Bumrah remarked, "It was pretty good." When India and Pakistan play, there is always a lot of emotion involved. We certainly felt like we had a lot of help.

Any match between India and Pakistan, two of the best cricketing nations, is a historic occasion, at least in South Asia and other cricket-loving regions of the world, something that most people in the New York area may not have realized. The International Cricket Council reports that 398 million people watched the teams' previous meeting in India last autumn. (The Super Bowl this year drew 123 million viewers.)

The ICC reports that Sunday's attendance (34,028) was the highest for an American international cricket match. Cricketing icons including Australia's Ricky Ponting, Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, and India's Yuvraj Singh were present.

The cricket match was Omar Minaya's debut as special consultant to the New York Yankees and a former general manager of the New York Mets. It's incredible, he remarked. "It's a fantastic vibe. It is comparable to the Dominican Baseball League or the World Baseball Classic.

Every two years, a 20-nation competition using a shortened version of cricket is called the T20 World Cup. This year, the event is being staged in the cricket-loving nations of the Caribbean and the United States for the first time. Though Dallas and Lauderhill, Florida are also hosting the U.S. matches, the main event was supposed to take place in New York.

Although political difficulties have caused India and Pakistan to play each other away from their home grounds over the years, cricket is nevertheless ingrained in both countries' cultural fabric.

The match was under heavy security, particularly after an alleged Islamic State terrorist group website called for attacks on the venue. There were long lineups at the doors as individuals passed through security scanners, and the area was overrun by mounted police, SWAT teams, sniffing dogs, helicopters, and copious amounts of police personnel. The executive of Nassau County, Bruce Blakeman, stated that the FBI and other local, state, and federal authorities were part of the protection that had been paid for in part by the ICC.

Blakeman stated, "I want to congratulate the fans." "Everyone has behaved with such grace and dignity, following directions to ensure their safety and well-being."

At least one was not the case. Before the game, an aircraft carrying a sign that read "Release Imran Khan" flew above the stadium outside of the allowed airspace. (Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan and cricket star for Pakistan, is incarcerated there.) Eventually, according to Blakeman, the jet was intercepted.

Even for Pakistani supporters who were losing, the atmosphere around the park was mostly positive.

Temu Martin, a Pakistan-supporting airfreight transport official from New Jersey, stated, "India-Pakistan is a very big deal." However, it isn't a conflict. It's an activity.

He claimed that following Pakistan's stunning upset loss to the United States in Dallas last week, ticket prices for Sunday's East Meadow game dropped from almost $2,000 to around $600. He stated that he intended to go to Barbados for Pakistan's upcoming game and then to Antigua to watch a match in the knockout stages.

Three more games are slated to take place in New York, with the last one between the United States against India on Wednesday. After that, the stadium will be disassembled, with the parts being distributed to various athletic events across the nation. Blakeman projected that Nassau County would earn $150 million from the eight tournament games in New York—ten times the amount the county invested in preparation, infrastructure, and security. He added that he had been informed by cricket officials that there could be as many as 600 million watchers watching the event on Sunday worldwide.

He stated he has received calls from investors interested in bringing Major League Cricket to Nassau County, maybe with New York's franchise.

"Based on the recent developments here, it appears that cricket has established a permanent home," Blakeman remarked.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.