Bigger than Super Bowl: Cricket World Cup engages international, U. communities
Earlier this month, the 2023 Cricket World Cup commenced in India, with 10 national men's teams competing to win the sport's premier championship title.
Cricket is a bat and ball-style sport widely played worldwide and particularly popular in countries formerly associated with the British Empire, including New Zealand, South Africa, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, according to the International Cricket Council.
The 13th edition of this tournament will feature several of the best-ranked cricket players of the current generation, such as Indian batsman Virat Kohli and Australian bowler Mitchell Starc, according to an article by the Associated Press.
A recent World Cup match played between India and Pakistan, one of the most followed rivalries in cricket, drew more than half a billion viewers, dwarfing the average viewership of the annual Super Bowl in the U.S.
Rohit Sharma, a batter for India's national team and captain, and Babar Azam, a batter for Pakistan's national team and captain, both broke long-standing records, according to the ICC.
Fauzan Amjad, a School of Arts and Sciences senior and president of the Rutgers Cricket Club, said that he began playing cricket and watching international matches as a child after his father, who played cricket in college, took him to local recreation cricket leagues.
He also said that since his parents had immigrated from Pakistan, cricket had become a significant way for his family to preserve a deeper connection to their culture.
His and other students' passion for cricket eventually led to the re-institution of the Rutgers Cricket Club on campus last year and the organization's official extracurricular sport status with Rutgers Recreation, Amjad said.
He said that he believes a lack of younger students in the club and the onset of the pandemic led to the disbandment of the former iteration of organized Rutgers student cricket on campus.
Amjad said that he wants to ensure that the current club helps improve students' social and mental well-being alongside their physical needs and, overall, cultivates a unique community.
This semester, the Rutgers Cricket Club won the National College Cricket Association's Northeast Regionals in Washington, D.C., and competed against other collegiate cricket teams, such as the University of Maryland, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech and Cornell University, he said.
Amjad said that he agreed with the sentiment that cricket helps individuals of foreign descent connect with their heritage and find a like-minded group of people to further those distinctive ties with.
"We're open to people of all levels and all expertise. We do have people that play in minor leagues. We also have people that have never touched a leather ball in their life," he said. "So, we're very open to beginners. We're also very open to people that really want to represent Rutgers."
Moreover, Amjad said that the rise of cricket's popularity in the U.S. and the development of American cricket leagues and infrastructure point to an optimistic future for the sport.
"Cricket matters because it matters to so many students on campus. They grew up with cricket, their family plays cricket, their family back home plays cricket," he said. "Cricket is an important aspect of so many of our (students') lives that we need (this) community on campus."
