You can't feel it in the air. It's unfortunate but true. You just can't.
That's unlike the last two India-Pakistan matches I've been to. Two years ago, in Melbourne, fans of both teams came to watch the nets with their dhols, trumpets and their shared songs. It's convenient there. The nets are one level below the concourse from where people can watch. It was a festival, a party, a celebration. In perfect conditions the next day, both sets of fans sang Pasoori together, the two teams played a thriller, and then the Indians let out perhaps the biggest roar ever in Melbourne, which could be heard a few suburbs away.
Last year in Ahmedabad, you could feel the tension. Tickets were impossible to get, only slightly more difficult than finding a bed to sleep in after the match. In the lead-up, though, there was unease beneath the surface. Everybody wanted the game to happen without incident. The ugly side of this rivalry was always around the corner. If someone cut-pasted you into an Ahmedabad hotel and you walked onto the street, you would have immediately known an India-Pakistan match was on.
In big New York in big 2024, you can't tell the most-storied cricket match, the most anticipated cricket event of the year, a match for which tournament groups are planned, is around the corner. You just can't feel it in the air.
The schedule doesn't help. It is one of six (morning) matches in six days at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. Also, we need to be accurate when we say they are playing in New York. They are playing in the New York state and not New York City. There's a big difference. For those familiar with India, imagine the cricket ground Afghanistan called their home in Greater Noida, far away in the middle of nowhere with no public transport connectivity. This is the same, except Afghanistan had proper cricket pitches and training facilities there. Now you wouldn't say Afghanistan played in Delhi, would you?
A bit like how Afghanistan went about their work unknown to the most of Delhi, except for the Afghan immigrants in Lajpat Nagar and surrounding areas, this T20 World Cup is happening without clamouring for New York's attention. Well, except for the officious police, bordering on paranoid. We have their attention all right. You can't even imagine throwing the nets open to public with this police.
Also New York City is a busy and expensive place. People are just coming around. There is a big picnic in Central Park planned for fans on Saturday afternoon. While availability (still!) of the exorbitantly-priced hospitality tickets at the main venue should worry the ICC, the watch party at Citi Field is sold out.
If the idea was to introduce New York to the ritual three-four days of revelry and rivalry a traditional cricket contest brings, this seemingly hurriedly organised match has not quite succeeded. Having said that, the ICC possibly didn't want to lose this opportunity, because who knows when the Caribbean will get a chance to host a Men's World Cup again: this is the first one outside India, England and Australia since 2015. The 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE was technically India's event that was played there because of the pandemic.
The tournament so far, at 20 teams the biggest World Cup to date, has been a success after the initial hiccups. Wins for USA, Canada, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have opened the first round to many possibilities, a glorious vote for expansion rather than contraction. And yet, the truth and irony is that India vs Pakistan makes this expansion possible. Like it or not, it does.
It was India vs Pakistan that rescued a disastrous 2007 for the ICC after the over-regulated and upset-filled ODI World Cup took the joy out of the event in the West Indies. The two classics between India and Pakistan in the inaugural T20 World Cup later that year gave the format the acceptance and launchpad it needed. It took a few years for the ICC to stop waiting for an organic meeting between the two teams. Since 2013, the two have been in the same group in the first round to ensure at least one meeting. The ACC followed suit.
Rushed build-up or not, dodgy pitches or not, this is still India vs Pakistan, and the New York region is expected to make more than $78 million from it, according to a study carried out by Anderson Economic Analysis, LLC. There is added context to it now, after to Pakistan's defeat to USA. It is practically a must-win for them, which makes it different to recent matches between the two that have carried less of an edge.
People are coming from faraway lands for it. I know of some flying in from USA's west coast who have paid upwards of $2500 per ticket. Some packages are going at more than $10000 per ticket. Many legendary cricketers from both countries will be in attendance. Amid all this, the ICC will hope the teams recreate some of the magic they did in Melbourne, albeit in less-than-ideal conditions. Whoever is even remotely interested in cricket might want to come, because a close match between these teams at a neutral venue in the presence of supporters of both sides is one of the unique experiences in sport.