T20 World Cup 2024: ‘Pakistan will be an impact team’

KARACHI: The United States Consul General in Karachi, Conrad Tribble, is hopeful of Cricket becoming more popular in the US with country hosting the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup, the first-ever major cricket event in the country.

In an exclusive interview with Geo News, Tribble, also expressed his excitement ahead of the historic event. He also highlighted the immense enthusiasm among Americans for this cricket extravaganza.

"This is the first time we’re hosting an international cricket event like this. It's a fantastic opportunity to showcase cricket in the United States, to showcase the United States and sports to a huge audience overseas, including here in Pakistan. We're really excited about it, and I think it will help cricket grow in United States."

Tribble emphasised the unifying power of sports, identifying its ability to bring nations together.

“Sports can always play a role in bringing people together. It is one of the easiest and best tools for bringing people together for people-to-people contacts. Everybody's passionate about sport, whether you're Indian, or Pakistani, or West Indian, or American, and you are watching a cricket match for your country, you get excited about it,” he noted.

He added that Pakistan vs India game on 9th June in New York is the match everyone would be looking at but he also has his eyes on the game which is to be played before the high-voltage encounter between the sub-continental neighbours.

“Pakistan and India are playing on the 9th in New York, three days before then it's the US and Pakistan playing. So, that's the match that I'm looking at first as the most important match for US diplomat here in Pakistan. It will be a great event and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun for all of us to be able to watch that,” he said.

“Obviously, India and Pakistan that's like a highlight match for any cricket fan. And, I think that will be one of the things that the world is looking at. It'll be fantastic will be a huge opportunity for New York. I think the eyes of the world will be upon that match and I think for good reason because that's what you watch sports for, for drama, for excitement for resolution, so it'll be good,” added the US Consul General.

He highlighted that Cricket was once a popular sport in USA before being taken over by baseball but hoped that with hosting of cricket World Cup, Cricket will spread beyond few communities.

“The United States actually has a long history with cricket. People don't necessarily know that cricket was the most popular sport in the United States for the first 100 years of our existence. George Washington played cricket, he played wickets but it was cricket. Cricket was the most popular sport up until really the Civil War and baseball kind of took over after that. So, we have a long history of cricket,” he highlighted.

“But obviously in the modern era, the US has not been a cricket powerhouse. We are in fact developing cricket as a sport, as a youth activity, as a commercial activity as a league in the United States. And, the World Cup promises to really launch that and accelerate that.

“There's one aspect of the tournament that's really important to us as diplomats. It is a sport that has developed primarily in some of our immigrant communities and it is spreading from those communities to a larger a larger audience. And that's exactly what the United States is all about. We welcome immigrants, we are a melting pot kind of culture and a melting pot kind of society. And one of the things that's fascinating to watch and I think will be accelerated by this tournament, is to see a sport that is that is connected to a couple of particular communities is going to be spreading.”

Citing the example of the development of soccer over the last 40 or 50 years, which was also not a major sport in the United States, but now it is, the US Consul General said that he can see cricket following that same trajectory, and becoming one of those sports that has massive appeal across a wide spectrum of society.

“We'll come back with a cricket powerhouse team, if not in this tournament, then soon enough,” he hoped.

When asked about his personal involvement in the sport, Tribble expressed his growing admiration for cricket, particularly during his time in Pakistan. "I've become a keen follower of cricket, especially here in Pakistan," he admitted.

“I've been to some PSL matches. We watched the final, we watch the semi-final. We're here in the consulate in Karachi. So off-course we were rooting when Quetta played because we cover the Baluchistan, we were rooting for in Karachi Kings when they played because we cover Sindh. So, we had a lot of fun, rooting for the teams and just rooting for a good match and watching some really excellent cricket here,” he added.

He also hoped for a good show by the Pakistan team in the ICC T20 World Cup saying that Pakistan will be an impactful team in the tournament.

“I think Pakistan will be an impact team in the World Cup. I'm a bit of a diplomat so I will refrain from commenting on individual players in the Pakistani team. Obviously, the captain is hugely important. I saw some of them playing in the PSL and I think Pakistan is going to be a very tough team to beat. It will be our first really hard match in the in the tournament. But I expect I expect Pakistan to go a long way,” said Conrad Tribble.

Regarding visa arrangements for fans travelling to the USA for the World Cup, Tribble assured that the consulate is facilitating travel efforts.

"We're doing everything to help people prepare to travel to the United States," he affirmed. “We will do the best we can to facilitate as many people as possible to travel to United States to watch the cricket tournament and for obviously, every other reason that they want to travel.”