[inquisitive piano and gentle brass]
[shimmery music]
[upbeat rock music]
- It's like my life, almost my whole life long,
I have been playing cricket.
[upbeat rock music]
- Rakesh Cherukuri: It is, can I say, like a religion in India.
[upbeat rock music]
- Angela Fitzgerald: Cricket is described as India's obsession.
For Nitesh Singh and Rakesh Cherukuri,
it is more than a sport.
- Nitesh Singh: It doesn't see as a country or a state
or a religion or a gospel or anything like that.
It just sees the game.
- Angela: This game has united them in more ways than one.
[bird tweets]
[soft country music]
- Nitesh: Hey, guys.
- Hi, how are you? - Good, good.
- Nitesh Singh: I grew up in Mumbai.
I've stayed there all my life.
And then, finally, moved to States.
- Angela: Tech jobs attracted both men to the Madison area.
- Nitesh: This game, cricket, actually brought us together.
- Rakesh Cherukuri: Here, in our team or in the league that we play,
everyone come from different regions or places from India,
and we all talk and play cricket
to share the camaraderie that we have.
- Angela: Cricket and camaraderie,
both are growing here in Wisconsin.
- Nitesh Singh: We started playing in 2015.
There were only four to five teams.
And today, we have almost 20 teams.
Every team has 11 to 12 players so you can do the math.
- So, this is called a cricket bat,
and this is a hard tennis ball.
So, it's a bit hard, but not too hard, not too soft.
- Angela: Professionally, a pitcher or cricket bowler
can hurl that ball around 100 miles per hour.
- Here, we don't bowl that fast.
Maybe around 50 miles or 40 miles.
- Angela: Often compared to baseball,
both sports use a bat, a ball,
and the desire to outscore the opponent.
- Only difference is that in baseball,
you basically run four corners.
In cricket, we basically run back and forth.
[jaunty country music]
- All: One, two, three, go!
- Angela: In Wisconsin,
cricket is often played on adapted ball diamonds.
And the sports have another thing in common.
- Nitesh: I think it's teamwork, end of the day.
Cricket is not a one-player game.
Eleven players are trying to work together
and win a game in, like, two hours window.
- Angela: Cricket can also provide
some valuable life lessons.
- Nitesh: There are waves in cricket.
There are lot of emotions in cricket.
[players speaking Hindi]
You can very much relate it to
your actual life that you go through, right?
[men cheering]
So, winning and losing, right, ups and downs.
It keeps you humble and keeps your emotions in check.
[soft rock music]
- Angela: There's a sense of pride about this sport
in the cricket community.
[soft rock music]
A feeling of home in a far-flung land.
[soft rock music]
- We lived with cricket in India.
Pure enjoyment.
- If I'm playing, just come and support me, you know.
Cheer for me.
[soft rock music]
That's the fun thing and amazing part about cricket.
[soft rock music]
[men cheering]
[shimmery music]
[inspirational vocalizing]