Chris Gayle © Gallo Images
Former West Indies star Chris Gayle hopes the T20 World Cup will help crack cricket into the lucrative American sports market and take the game to a new global level.
The Twenty20 showpiece, which begins on June 1, is co-hosted by the United States and Gayle's home country of the West Indies, and is expected to draw huge crowds.
But this will be the first major international cricket tournament to be held in the United States, and a sellout crowd is expected as arch-rivals India and Pakistan clash at a temporary 34,000-seat venue on Long Island, New York.
Gale believes the success of last year's inaugural Major League Cricket, a US-based T20 franchise competition, gave the game a foothold in the US.
“The ICC (International Cricket Council) is working hard to popularize cricket on a global scale within the United States,” Gayle said in an interview with 100 days left until the start of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.AFP said in an interview.
“India vs Pakistan will be held in New York and I am sure it will be a great match.
“They (USA) had a successful T20 tournament last year and it was a big market. We can only hope for success in the US.”
West Indies have a tradition of limited-overs cricket, winning the first two men's One-Day International World Cups in 1975 and 1979, but failed to even qualify for the 50-over tournament held in India last year. There wasn't.
“We missed out on the 50-over World Cup, so it will be great for the players to actually play for something,” Gayle said in a video call from Barbados.
“We just want to get to the finals here in Barbados (June 29). Once we get to the finals, anything is possible.”
“I'm excited for people to actually see a little bit of cricket,” added big-hitting opener Gayle, who became the first batsman to score a T20 international century in 2007.
The 44-year-old, who was a member of the West Indies team that became T20 world champions in 2012 and 2016, believes his current team is in no position to relieve title-holders England, even if they are seventh-placed. He said there are enough “choices and experiences” to choose from. In the world ranking.
'Struggle'
West Indies lost the recent ODI series in Australia 3-0 and the T20 series 2-1, but an underpowered team lost just eight runs to a strong side in Brisbane. The victory resulted in a 1-1 draw in the Test series. World champion in 5-day format.
It was the first time since 1997 that West Indies, who dominated Test cricket in the 1980s and 1990s, had won a Test in Australia, and Gayle said it was a huge achievement for the team.
“The adrenaline and excitement of beating Australia after all these years (in a Test), you know, I've been part of that battle as well as being captain for Australia.
“It's great to be able to win in such a great way.
“When I saw how excited players like (great batsman) Brian Lara were when he was actually doing commentary (on television), (former batsman) Carl Hooper also cried. I saw.”
One of the pressing issues for world cricket leaders is that in an era of global franchise competitions, top players no longer need to play internationally to make a living.
Former West Indies captain Jason Holder missed the Test series in Australia and instead played T20 cricket in the United Arab Emirates.
Gayle, one of T20's “guns for hire” who initially toured the world, has had several clashes with Caribbean cricket chiefs over his availability, but will rebalance the schedule. He said it was the administrator's responsibility.
“I'm always in favor of players getting paid. It's their livelihood, it's their job,” he said.
“Cricket is actually big business and you can't blame players for choosing a franchise over a particular country because there is no loyalty on either side.
“There's too much cricket, so unless you have two big teams playing, it takes you away from international cricket a little bit. We need to build a little bit better so that both teams can be competitive when they play against each other at international level. only.” “
