It was a Sunday of starkly contrasting cricketing realities.
On March 8, in the cauldron of the 132,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India defeated New Zealand by 96 runs to claim a record-breaking third ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup title. Nearly 15,000 kilometers away, at the Jimmy Powell Oval in the Cayman Islands, a team wearing the green jersey of Mexico took to the field to begin its own long-shot journey toward the 2028 tournament.
The juxtaposition is fitting, if not slightly ironic. While a cricket-mad nation of 1.4 billion celebrated its dominance, a squad of almost exclusively Indian nationals, now representing their adopted home of Mexico, started its campaign in the Americas Sub-regional Qualifier B for the 2028 T20 World Cup. For the millions of fans in India, the World Cup was a coronation. For this band of players in the Caribbean, it was the first step in a qualification process to reach the same stage.
Unlikely cricket nation?
For most people in North America, the mention of Mexican sports conjures images of soccer stadiums erupting in “Olé” chants, or the global phenomenon of stellar boxers such as “Canelo” Álvarez or Julio Cesar Chavez.
Cricket? Not really.
However, a significant influx of migrants from South Asia — particularly Indians, many working in the tech sector — is quietly transforming the sporting landscape. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Mexican national cricket team. The squad competing in the Cayman Islands reflects this demographic shift, composed of expatriates who grew up with the sport in the same way American kids grow up with baseball or Canadian kids with hockey. And while you won’t find a García or Hernández on the Mexican roster, to their credit these expats are making significant efforts to promote the sport among native-born Mexicans in Mexico City and Guadalajara, on both the men’s and women’s sides.
(Editor’s note: For those who may be wondering, under the International Cricket Council’s lenient rules — in a bid to expand cricket’s global reach — a player can represent a country if they have been a permanent resident there for the three years immediately preceding their selection. In short: live there for three years, and you’re eligible to play.)
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