T20 World Cup brings cricket ‘home’ for New York’s South Asian community

Long Island, New York — On a cool Sunday afternoon in May, Anjum Sabar, captain of the PakAmerica Cricket Club, was watching his team bat against the Hawks Cricket Club on the grassy field of Eisenhower Park in Long Island, New York.

The match – which was part of New York’s Commonwealth Cricket League (CCL) – was being played just a short distance away from the current Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, which is one of the venues for the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

As workers put the finishing touches on the purpose-built modular stadium — designed to host cricket’s South Asian powerhouses India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — two teams featuring semi-professional cricketers of South Asian heritage were playing games nearby.

Sabar, a 43-year-old businessman, moved to the US from Pakistan in 1998 and began playing cricket with PakAmerica a year later. His wife of 14 years, Sadaf Sabar, knows better than to ask her for help on weekends because every Sunday Sabar heads to different parks in New York to play the game he grew up playing in Pakistan.

On “homecomings”, cricket matches were always watched on television at his family home in Sialkot, Pakistan’s northeastern city, renowned as the country’s major sports equipment manufacturing hub.

“I have never been to a stadium to watch a match,” Sabar told Al Jazeera while watching his PakAmerica teammates play.

“We watched sports on TV and played in the streets – as all Pakistani children do.”

Cricket fans – old and new

It is a similar story for many South Asian cricketers who now call New York home and play the game to stay connected to their roots.

For Sabar and his friends, cricket at home meant collecting money to buy tennis balls for tape-ball games on the streets; running back and forth in chappals as friends shouted, and rushing back home before the evening Maghrib namaz.

Now, when South Asian immigrants gather in New York’s parks after a week of hectic life, neighborhood cricket matches come alive.

An unexpected spectator turned up at the PakAmerica vs. Hawks CC game at Eisenhower Park.

A bewildered Mike Niewender, 56, of the affluent New Hyde Park village on Long Island, watched from the car park.

“I don’t understand this game,” Nivender told Al Jazeera as he stood leaning against his heavy bike and smoking a cigar.

“I’m trying to figure it out for myself before I see something on social media or read about it,” he said, looking at the pitch.

“I come here every Sunday and watch the game. Last summer I got to watch this game and now, I come here every weekend and relax on my Sunday.”

Keeping cricket alive in New York

Cricket has existed in New York for 44 years. The CCL was founded in New York in 1979 and comprises more than 120 clubs, according to Long Island community leader Imran Pasha, who grew up playing cricket in Hyderabad, India.

He claims that “every kind of cricket match” is played in New York. “From hard-ball to soft-ball, tape-ball to hard-tennis – everything.”

Now, New York is hosting more high-level and high-stakes matches.

Last year, the USA was awarded the rights to host 16 of the 53 matches of the 2024 T20 World Cup, including the biggest match, India vs Pakistan, except the final.

The modular stadium on Long Island, built piecemeal over the past few months, can accommodate about 40,000 spectators. It is expected to be filled to full capacity by June 9.

In 2023, the ICC had chosen a location in the Bronx to build the stadium, but community members and local leaders raised environmental concerns and demanded public review of the environmental study before the stadium could be approved. According to Pasha, the approval would have had to go through a public review process that could take up to six months, which led the ICC to move to Long Island.

“Long Island has the space and the environment to host an event as large and spectacular as the World Cup,” he told Al Jazeera.

The 45-year-old plays for the Long Island Cricket Club in the local league. He is working with the local subcommittee of Nassau County that liaises with the ICC on matters related to hosting the eight matches in New York.

Pasha, a software engineer by profession, is excited about the opportunities the World Cup matches will bring for the local cricket community as well as Nassau County businesses.

“We work hard to keep the clubs as professional as possible through local sponsorship, trained umpires, kits, equipment, park permits,” he said.

“(These things) take time and money, but we stick together and do our best.”

Pasha hopes the World Cup will “change the attitude towards cricket in New York.”

“This stadium alone has brought much-needed attention to the local clubs – attention they have been waiting and hoping to receive for a long time.”

Inspiring the next generation

Pasha, who is known for his honesty and hard work in the local community, hopes that the tournament will have a huge impact on the local cricket scene.

“This could lead to (proper) scouting opportunities for Team USA and organising inter-state matches – just like cricket is played in other countries,” he said.

Others like Neville Kunjaraviya see the World Cup as an opportunity for networking. The 34-year-old has been mastering the role of a cricket umpire for years and hopes the ICC will take notice. His dream is to umpire in prestigious matches like the World Cup.

He umpired the PakAmerica-Hawks CC match wearing a navy blue floppy hat – similar to the one used in cricket umpiring.

For Ali Zafar, owner of the only known cricket equipment shop in Long Island — Zar Sports — it is a matter of pride and excitement that cricket is finally coming “home” for him and other South Asian immigrants like him.

“The World Cup was always held somewhere else and I never got a chance to watch the matches or be a part of the excitement,” he said.

The 38-year-old was not able to buy tickets for the games in New York but hopes the presence of the world’s greatest cricket stars will “attract the younger generation to the sport”.

“We all bring our kids to our (local) games, but it’s different than them wanting to be involved as players.”

Pakamerica captain Sabar also has high hopes from this tournament.

“I really want the younger players to have the same passion for the game as we do,” he said.

“I hope they keep the stadium here for the local teams, so that the younger generation can also enjoy cricket like us.”