The grassy southeast portion of Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York, is usually the scene of family picnics, softball games, and a few cricket players taking advantage of the nice weekend weather this time of year. That area served as a venue for one of the year’s most widely viewed international athletic events on Sunday.
A makeshift stadium constructed in the last three months in the Long Island park was packed with over 34,000 spectators and cricket dignitaries to see the most anticipated match of the T20 Cricket World Cup: India vs Pakistan.
The mood was lively and celebratory for around three hours as supporters wearing blue and orange India shirts mixed with their (much outnumbered) foes dressed in dark green Pakistani shirts.
At every major play, they let out a roar, gesturing with placards and flags. On this historic day in the typically quiet park, they ate South Asian food from the concession stands, leaped, chanted, high-fived with other fans, and enjoyed the weather after a little rain.
Chandu Talla, an entrepreneur from Tampa, Florida and an India enthusiast who attended the game with his junior high school son Aryan, remarked, “It was electric.” “We didn’t regret the $2,500 each ticket we paid,” he continued. “Seeing India here was like seeing a dream come true.”
India overcame a poor start to win 119-113, and when Pakistan’s Naseem Shah struck the final ball bowled by India’s Arshdeep Singh, the Indian supporters let out a loud scream.
Bowler Jasprit Bumrah of India, who won player of the match, stated, “It was pretty good.” When India and Pakistan play, there is always a lot of emotion involved. We certainly felt like we had a lot of help.
Any match between India and Pakistan, two of the best cricketing nations, is a historic occasion, at least in South Asia and other cricket-loving regions of the world, something that most people in the New York area may not have realized. The International Cricket Council reports that 398 million people watched the teams’ previous meeting in India last autumn. (The Super Bowl this year drew 123 million viewers.)
According to the I.C.C., Sunday’s attendance (34,028) was the most for an international cricket match held in the United States. Cricketing icons including Australia’s Ricky Ponting, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, and India’s Yuvraj Singh were present.
The cricket match was Omar Minaya’s first, the special adviser for the Yankees and former general manager of the Mets.
It’s incredible, he remarked. “It’s a fantastic vibe. It is comparable to the Dominican Baseball League or the World Baseball Classic.
Every two years, a 20-nation competition using a shortened version of cricket is called the T20 World Cup. This year, the event is being staged in the cricket-loving nations of the Caribbean and the United States for the first time. Although Dallas and Lauderhill, Florida are also hosting the U.S. matches, the main event was supposed to take place in New York.
Although political difficulties have caused India and Pakistan to play each other away from their home grounds over the years, cricket is still deeply ingrained in both countries’ cultures.
“Well, it’s a real battle of sentiments, contentious,” remarked Narinder Kapoor, an 84-year-old former agent of the US Treasury Department who was born in New Delhi. “It gets really hot under these countries when they play.”
Mr. Kapoor, a 1972 immigrant to Syosset, N.Y., was a former amateur cricket player. Despite his regular TV watching, he had not attended a live match since 1974. According to his son Sandeep Kapoor, he went to the Ireland vs. Canada game on Friday and had intended to attend the important match on Sunday, but he remained home due to knee pain. The older Mr. Kapoor acknowledged that he had enjoyed the poorly attended game on Friday, but he also mentioned that it was challenging for elderly people to climb the steps and that there were insufficient accommodations for those with impairments in the makeshift stadium.
At the match, security was heightened, particularly after an alleged ISIS terrorist website urged for attacks on the venue. There were long lineups at the doors as individuals passed through security scanners, and the area was overrun by mounted police, SWAT teams, sniffing dogs, helicopters, and copious amounts of police personnel. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said that the F.B.I. and other local, state, and federal authorities had paid a portion of the security’s expenses, which were covered by the I.C.C.
Mr. Blakeman began, “I want to congratulate the fans. Everyone has been so courteous and respectful, and they followed instructions to ensure their safety and well-being.”
There was at least one exception. An airplane trailing a sign that said “Release Imran Khan” breached restricted airspace over the stadium before the match. (Mr. Khan, a former Pakistani cricket star and former prime minister of Pakistan, is serving a prison sentence there.) Mr. Blakeman said the plane was eventually intercepted.
The mood at the park was generally upbeat, even for Pakistan fans on the losing end.
“India-Pakistan is a very big deal,” said Temu Martin, an airfreight transport official from New Jersey and a Pakistan supporter. “But it’s not war. It’s a game.”
He said that after Pakistan lost to the United States last week in a major upset in Dallas, ticket prices for Sunday’s match in East Meadow plummeted from over $2,000 to $600. He said he was planning to travel to Barbados for Pakistan’s next match and then to attend a knockout-stage match in Antigua.
Three more games are slated to take place in New York, with the last one featuring India and the US on Wednesday. After that, the stadium will be disassembled, with the parts being distributed to various athletic events across the nation. According to Mr. Blakeman, Nassau County would profit $150 million from the eight tournament games in New York—ten times the amount the county had invested in preparation, infrastructure, and security. He added that he had been informed by cricket officials that there could be as many as 600 million watchers watching the event on Sunday worldwide.
He said he had heard from investors who wanted to bring Major League Cricket to Nassau County, maybe alongside New York’s franchise.
