As the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 approaches, Indian cricket stalwart Virat Kohli has highlighted the burgeoning influence of cricket in the United States, a nation co-hosting the event alongside the West Indies. Cricket’s ascendancy in the United States has been noteworthy over recent years, with the MLC playing a pivotal role in this growth.

#DYK, the upcoming T20 World Cup is the first major cricket tournament in the United States? Indian cricket legend Virat Kohli talks about why this is a historical moment for the sport, and his aspirations for its growing impact in the United States and across the world.… pic.twitter.com/KlzWmLYbbn
— U.S. Consulate Mumbai (@USAndMumbai) May 31, 2024

The MLC league’s debut season in 2023 marked a transformative moment, bringing top-tier domestic T20 action to American shores, with matches frequently drawing sold-out crowds in states like Texas and North Carolina. This success has set the stage for an even more star-studded second season, featuring prominent international players like Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, and New Zealand’s Finn Allen.

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“Honestly, I never thought that we would be playing cricket in any form in the States. But now it’s a reality. That tells you about the growing impact of the sport in the world. The United States is more than willing to accept the change and be probably the first one on a global scale to accept it in a way with the World Cup, which is I think it’s a great start. It’s the ideal way to begin. So I think it’s going to have a huge impact,”
Virat Kohli Said in a video posted by US Consulate

Reflecting on this development, Kohli expressed his surprise and excitement about playing cricket in the U.S., a country traditionally outside the sport’s mainstream. “Honestly, I never thought that we would be playing cricket in any form in the States. But now it’s a reality. That tells you about the growing impact of the sport in the world,” Kohli stated in a video shared by the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai on X. He emphasized the United States’ enthusiastic embrace of cricket, noting that hosting the World Cup is an ideal way to foster further growth and global acceptance of the sport.

Kohli also discussed the broader implications of the MLC’s success, suggesting it could trigger a domino effect in popularizing cricket across the U.S. “We have enough people from our regions to keep the game up and alive in the States and make others more aware of what it feels like to play and watch cricket,” he added. Kohli believes that the MLC, now recognized with List A status by the International Cricket Council (ICC), has laid a solid foundation for cricket’s future in the U.S., indicating that the sport is moving in the right direction.