At the cultural crossroads of the world, New Yorkers will experience a thrilling first on Sunday a World Cup cricket match hosted in a US city between Asian powerhouses: rivals India and Pakistan.
“India-Pakistan is the game everyone would like to watch, and… it’s happening in our backyard,” said Ajith Shetty, president of two local cricket leagues.
This first Cricket World Cup hosted in the United States is in the T20 format, with games that last around three hours, as opposed to the five-day contests in the traditional test match format.
Tickets on the resale market are going for at least $800, with Indian Premier League founder and former president Lalit Modi slamming the inflated prices.
The tournament “in the US is for game expansion & fan engagement, not a means to make profits on gate collections,” he said on X.
Beyond the Indian and Pakistani communities, the face-off is eagerly anticipated by immigrants from other South Asian countries where cricket is popular.
Although both countries are cricket powerhouses, head-to-head matches are rare between the nations.
The two sides do not meet outside of official competitions of the ICC, the international cricket federation, and the last test match between them was in 2007.