T20 can be US craze like yoga and Bollywood weddings

Indian-American businessman Sanjay Govil is convinced Twenty20 cricket can be the next big cultural import into the United States, following a trail blazed by yoga and Bollywood-style weddings.

Previous investors have held similar dreams of breaking into the U.S. sports league market, only to be thwarted by the nations obsession with baseball, basketball and American football.

IT entrepreneur Govil, however, is confident that along with Microsofts India-born CEO Satya Nadella and Silicon Valleys Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan he can embed the short, jazzy version of cricket deeply into the U.S. sporting landscape

T20 leagues are the future, Govil, who owns Washington Freedom, one of the six franchises in the Major League Cricket (MLC),told Reuters.

Like Yoga, like Bollywood weddings, things from India and its crazy here.

People here just love Indian wedding. When we have weddings in hotels, people just stop and watch. Its a spectacle, right?

Although cricket originated in England, India is now its financial engine with a cash cow in named the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 competition, which has a brand value of $12 billion.

IPL franchises with deep pockets also own teams in leagues in England, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, West Indies and the United States.

The U.S. featured in the first international cricket match, against Canada, in New York in 1844, but cricket remains very much a niche sport in the country.

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The introduction of the MLC in 2023 and staging matches in last years T20 World Cup have raised the games profile.

Cricket returning to Olympics after a gap of 128 years at the 2028 Los Angeles Games will be another big impetus, said Govil, who was born in Canada but grew up in New Delhi before moving to the U.S.

Govil, who also owns 50% stake in