The South African was swarmed by autograph seekers during a match against Washington when his playing time was finished. There are U.S. players as well on rosters that allow six spots for international veterans. Mehta said he had no concerns about the quality of play even without IPL players because of rules preventing them from being here.
“Besides Indian players, the other players who are playing here, they are like rock stars,” said Shah, who lives in the Dallas area, the metropolitan region that is seeing The first eight matches in the six-team tournament were in Texas, with seven more set for Morrisville, North Carolina. The event returns to the Dallas area for elimination games, with the championship July 30.
“All of a sudden, we’ve got this five-year growth program for the sport,” Geale said. “A big part of what we’re trying to do is strengthen the USA national team.” “The odds are stacked against us,” Geale said. “We’re trying to launch a new sport in a country that doesn’t know it needs it. I think we need to be realistic. But I think if we can showcase how cool we think the game is, if we can put out a really good TV product, we can get that to people in America and the world to show this is going to work.”