NEW YORK: Westbury is a small Long Island station where people aren't used to this. On Wednesday morning, regular commuters travelling to New York City suddenly found themselves submerged in a deep blue sea.
Cricket has come to New York, and the big boys who are carrying the cross and helping the sport find a footing in this part of the world are making their debut. The buses that the ICC has arranged to bring fans from the station to Nassau County ground were more or less empty till now, but it was a whole new ball game on Wednesday morning.
Thousands of Indian fans-from different parts of the US, and even Canada-decided that they will show their adopted home what "cricket entertainment" is all about. "When the NFL Final happens, USA goes into an overdrive. We try to soak in, but we don't always feel like being part of that party. But this is our very own, this is what we live for," Abhay, a techie who lives in Boston and had driven for four and a half hours to be part of history, told TOI.
Even as the younger Indian Diaspora, some of them painted in the tri-colour, trooped in, TOI caught up with an elderly woman dressed in India blues and rushing towards the stadium. "I stay in New Town in Kolkata and my son and daughter are here. I have been to the Eden Gardens before, but this is something else. We came here in a group of 17. It's truly a picnic," Shyamali Chakraborty said as her 'gang' joined in with "we will win" slogans.
They have all been obviously boosted by captain Rohit Sharma's promise that the Indian team wants to "leave something" for the fans here. When a local radio jockey asked him on match eve about his feelings for the game, Rohit said: "We know how the fans are waiting to see us and we will give it our best."
Many of them were desperately looking for India-Pakistan tickets and still haven't been able to manage one. A young couple from Toronto, with their baby in tow, walked in. "We really wanted tickets for the Indo-Pak game, but those are just not available. This was the second best option, so we flew in for this," Twinkle said, hoping to see Virat Kohli weave his magic with the bat.
Over the next hour or so, the Indian bowlers took it on themselves to make them happy. The band played, the tri-colour fluttered in the crisp morning breeze as cricket truly celebrated its new shore.
1/10:India rout Ireland in their T20 World Cup opener
<p>Read more on TOI Sports</p>
2/10:CAPTAIN'S KNOCK
<p>India captain Rohit Sharma allayed fears about an arm injury after making 52 before retiring hurt as his side thrashed Ireland by eight wickets in the teams' T20 World Cup opener in New York on Wednesday.<br /></p>AFP
3/10:DOMINANT DISPLAY
<p>India only required 97 to win after a dominant display by their bowling attack, with left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh striking twice in the third over to reduce Ireland to 9-2 after Rohit won the toss.<br /></p>AFP
4/10:SUPER PANDYA
<p><br />All-rounder Hardik Pandya took two wickets in two balls on his way to 3-27 and Jasprit Bumrah, the player of the match, 2-6.<br /></p>IANS
5/10:POOR SHOW
<p>Ireland, all out for just 96, needed to hold every chance to have any hope of a shock upset.<br /></p>AFP
6/10:ROHIT SURVIVES
<p>But Rohit had made just two when, off the last ball of the first over of India's chase, he edged Mark Adair through the hands of Andrew Balbirnie at second slip.<br /></p>AFP
7/10:VIRAT FALLS
<p>Adair dismissed Virat Kohli for just one, when the star batsman sliced to deep third man, but the damage had been done as India launched their bid to win a first major title since their 2013 Champions Trophy triumph with a commanding Group A victory.<br /></p>AFP
8/10:CAPTAIN ON DUTY
<p>Rohit punished Ireland with a 37-ball innings, including four fours and three well-struck sixes as he shared a stand of 54 with Rishabh Pant.<br /></p>IANS
9/10:COMEBACK MAN
<p>Rishabh Pant, returning to international cricket after a horror car crash in December 2022, finished on 36 not out and ended the match with a typically flamboyant reverse-scooped six off Barry McCarthy as India won with nearly eight overs left.<br /></p>AFP
