Can a curveball be hit for a six?

Be it sports or politics, nothing’s more uplifting and romantic than the triumph of an underdog. A Goliath’s reverse fills us with a delightful disbelief, pleases the David in our hearts. That’s why of all cricket triumphs stored in the rucksack of our memories, 1983 remains the fondest because it was conjured against the seemingly invincible. US too has experienced unexpected euphoria in sports, none bigger than what happened in Brazil’s mining town of Belo Horizonte. With a ragtag team that included a postman, a mill worker and a ‘funeral director’, the Americans astonished England 1-0 in the 1950 football World Cup. “At the final whistle, newspapers burned on the terraces, a funeral pyre for England, and spectators rushed on to the pitch to carry the brave American team out shoulder-high,” wrote football guru Brian Glanville in The Story of the World Cup.Uncle Sam’s nerve-jangling triumph over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup in Dallas on Thursday is cricket’s answer to that jubilant moment in US sporting history. For captain Monank Patel and his multi-racial merry lads, it was an away game at home; the stands packed with noisy non-resident Pakistanis. Pakistan ranks No. 6 to US 18 in T20. mediumhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSTMKBLDoLgBut the difference in status doesn’t reveal the true gap in pedigree and quality of the two sides. US played its first international cricket match against Canada in 1844. But in baseball country, the willow never struck deep roots. In the hierarchy of cricket-playing countries, it remained a nobody. The victory against Pakistan, which makes them a genuine contender for a Super Eight spot, seems to be an announcement of intent: we want to be somebody.The triumph has found sweet echoes across India because players of Indian-origin were fundamental in its construction. Skipper Monank Patel, a wicket-keeper batter who earned Man of the Match with a half century, was born in India’s milk capital, Anand. Mumbai-born pacer Saurabh Netravalkar, the bowler of the day along with N Kenjige, is a software engineer in San Francisco. Netravalkar was India’s highest wicket-taker in the U-19 World Cup in 2010 but had given up the game for a career in computers. But the dream and the desire lingered. medium110814359Sometimes he would drive six hours to Los Angeles to play a game on Saturday, then drive back through the night to play another game in San Francisco on Sunday. Netravalkar’s inspirational story is emblematic of the Indian community in US which the book, The Other One Per Cent by Sanjoy Chakravorty, Devesh Kapur and Nirvikar Singh, maps and captures in detail.Two other Indian players deserve a larger mention. One is Nitish Kumar, who like his namesake Bihar politician, is adept at changing sides. The Ontario-born represented Canada earlier. Like the master JDU politico in the Lok Sabha polls, his intervention was small but crucial to the eventual outcome. Kumar wrenched out a desperate last-ball boundary off Mohammad Amir, stretching the game to Super Over.mediumMumbai-born Harmeet Singh’s story is about life and second chances. The left-arm spinner was stellar in India’s 2012 U-19 World Cup triumph. The languid grace of his bowling action reminded Ian Chappell of Bishan Singh Bedi. But Singh lost his way, once quite literally, driving a car into Andheri railway platform. Other controversies ensured his career went southwards and life sideways. He found redemption in Dallas.The host’s improbable triumph has lit up a tournament that had prompted justifiable criticism about the vicious pitch in New York where balls exploded like popcorn in heat. And while that issue might resurface when India faces off with familiar foes Pakistan on the same ground on Sunday, US can justifiably celebrate the moment even though, as New York Times reported, “many Americans were oblivious to the magnitude of their victory in Dallas”.Sport is forever in search of new markets. In 1994, the football World Cup hosted by US helped Major League Soccer (MLS) find its feet there. Since then, barring 2018, the Stars and Stripes have always fluttered in World Cups. Cricket seems to be following a similar path. The glitz glam superhit first edition of Major League Cricket (MLC), the US equivalent of IPL, was staged last July, with Nicholas Pooran-led MI New York taking the trophy. The second season is scheduled next month. About 200,000 play cricket in about 400 local leagues in US. But even now the home page of Cricket USA website has a section explaining the game to the curious visitor.The truth is eight of the 15 players in the US squad have early or familial roots in India; others coming from Pakistan, the West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand. Twelve are 30-plus in age; the remaining three are 29. It remains to be seen how the victories over Pakistan and Canada — and against Bangladesh before the tournament — breed active interest in the game. The journey will take long, but the road seems right.