USA Cricket directors has Telugu roots

Nalgonda man’s passion for cricket continued even after he left the country

Passion for cricket has not diminished even after crossing the shores in search of greener pastures for this man from a small village in Nalgonda district. And no wonder, that has placed him in the prestigious director post in USA Cricket, the official body recognised by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Venu Kumar Reddy Pisike is the only one among the 10 directors of ‘USA Cricket’ with Telugu roots. Like any other Indian, he has a lot of passion for cricket. Despite being busy with his work as the owner of an IT company in Atlanta, Venu Reddy continued with his passion in USA.

“Cricket, though a bit popular due to the large immigrant population from Asia and Caribbean, was not structured to provide a competitive platform. But now ‘USA Cricket’ has got the One Day International (ODI) status as well. Our aim is to qualify for the 2023 Cricket World Cup and we are on the job,” explains Venu Reddy, who is closely associated with the American Telugu Association (ATA) as well.

“After a series of suspensions of the earlier bodies by the ICC due to mismanagement, the present ‘USA Cricket’ was recognised in 2018 and since then, professionalism has seeped in. We have 10 directors out of which seven are elected by clubs and leagues and the remaining three appointed by the Board itself,” he adds.

Among the seven elected, two are mandatory from the pool of cricketers who have played for the US. “This ensures professionalism and players’ perspective as well,” says Venu Reddy, who played cricket during his engineering days.

“The talent pool”, he says, “is pretty strong at the youth level and that can be harnessed. Lot of second generation Indians, particularly Telugus, are taking the sport seriously and 50% of the present pool are Indians and 20% from Caribbean countries.”

Venu Reddy, who is also the chairman of the ‘USA Cricket’ Youth Committee, is confident that more exposure to international competitions will fine-tune players. “To encourage them, a professional league is being planned. By 2021, we will launch the IPL version of USA and that should change the scenario drastically,” he says.

USA, according to him, has the 5th largest cricket fan base after India, Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh, and there is enough scope for the game’s commercialisation.

“The Willow TV is actively involved in the game’s promotion in USA. The governing body is working closely with BCCI to send the youth teams to play in India to improve their standards. Next year, the US team will play a few practice games with Mumbai team,” he said.