US wants to excel in every sport it plays, including cricket: MLC team Washington Freedom owner Sanjay Govil | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Freedom of Washington reached the Eliminator of the Major League Cricket (MLC) last season but lost to MI-New York (MINY). However, team owner Sanjay Govil is confident that new captain Steve Smith will lead the team to victory in the second edition of the tournament, which begins on July 5. However, he is optimistic about the chances of success this time around.
Washington kicks off their campaign against MINY on Saturday, July 6 at Church Street Park in Morrisville.
Govil, who is also the founder and chairman of Infinite Computer Solutions, spoke to TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview about the Washington Freedom team, captain Smith, speed demon Saurabh Netravalkar, cricket in the US and much more.

What are your opening thoughts on Washington Freedom?
We are part of the six teams in the MLC. The concept of MLC was actually started by Satyan Gajwani, Vice President of Times Internet, and the former founders of Willow. They got it going and now there are six teams in it. We own the Washington Freedom team, based in the US capital. We are very excited for our second season and we think we have a great team. We have Ricky Ponting as our coach and Steve Smith as our captain. Our squad consists of both international and domestic players.
The format has room for six international players and five domestic players. We have notable international players like Travis Head, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Maxwell and as mentioned, Steve Smith. Our bowling line-up consists of Marco Janssen, Lockie Ferguson and others. On the domestic side, we have Saurabh Netravalkar, who has become a sensation (with his T20 World Cup heroics for the USA) and Andre Gaus. We also have Amila Aponso from Sri Lanka.
We have a very competitive team, that was our goal. All the teams in the MLC are very competitive and our goal was to make sure that we put out a product that is meaningful and competitive, not overshadowed by the IPL teams. Last year we made it to the play-offs and this year we are going to go game by game with the same goal in mind.
Is cricket, and T20 cricket in particular, growing in popularity in the US?
Absolutely, it’s going to be big. A recent CBS news report showed that over 35 million people watch cricket in the US, making it the fifth largest cricket media market for the ICC. The India-Pakistan match in New York, along with other matches in New York, Dallas and Florida, has significantly increased the exposure… the overall impact has been substantial.
The US victory over Pakistan was a turning point for Cricket from the USAwhich generated a tremendous amount of awareness, publicity and coverage. I compare it to the US defeating Russia in ice hockey at the Olympics. Suddenly people take notice. The US has a huge appetite for sports. Despite the NFL, NBA, NHL and many other leagues, there is always a demand for more sports because they serve as great unifiers and promote team building.
India’s recent victory in the T20 World Cup is a perfect example of teamwork, with every player contributing to the victory. If one player had not contributed, it could have resulted in a loss. This aspect of cricket, where everyone has specialised roles and works together like a well-oiled machine, is truly remarkable.
How do you measure the success of the T20 World Cup in the US as a co-host?
I think it was very successful. I wish the stadium they built (in Nassau County) had survived because it would have been a great opportunity for young kids to grow up there and play cricket for generations. There are so many academies and it would have been great to see the stadium where the first India-Pakistan match in America was held. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity to showcase cricket.
As we approach MLC and the 2028 Olympics, there are some really exciting developments happening. I would love to see a Women’s World Cup in the US soon. We are building stadiums all over the country, which we desperately need to take the game forward. We are well on our way to doing that. In every city you can see the progress that cricket fans have made in terms of having pitches that are adapted for cricket. This (cricket) is now, I wouldn’t say mainstream, but it is coming.
How does cricket fit into the US business world?
So the good news is that everyone involved in the sport is willing to invest in the business. I always believe that passion is the most important thing. If you have passion, everything else will follow. If you start a business with the sole purpose of making money, you will never be successful, in my opinion. Every idea has passion behind it. You execute that idea, and the business and profit will follow. That is what every owner does; they are all willing to invest and have made investments. In MLC, we see a promising path to success in the coming years.
What is the interest of advertisers in a country where the NBA, NFL and MLB rule the roost?
We’ve already started getting some great sponsors. Advertisers are great. We have Verizon as a sponsor, one of the biggest brands in America. I know other teams have really good sponsors. So the interest is definitely growing from an advertising perspective. Advertising dollars are invested to reach a certain audience, and as we become more mainstream and reach beyond the diaspora of cricket-loving countries, (we’ll) see more and more advertising dollars coming in.
If you have 40 million people watching cricket, that is a very significant segment of the American population. And this segment of the population is not only large, but also very successful. They are among the highest taxpayers in the country, so their economic impact is substantial. We only see this growing.
When I look at other sports leagues like football and the NHL, I don't have the exact numbers on how many people follow those sports, but it's not the entire American population. Whether it's 40 million, 50 million, 60 million, I don't have that data. But 40 million people is not a bad start for any sport.
What motivated Infinite Solutions to invest in a cricket team?
It was more luck and chance that led to this. For the record, Infinite Solutions does not own the cricket team; they are two separate, independent entities. Infinite Solutions is a sponsor of the cricket team. It is passion that drives us. We all grew up watching and playing cricket.
I grew up in Delhi, where my father was a professor at IIT Delhi, so I spent my childhood on campus. We didn’t have much money, but we had all the facilities to play sports. Inside the IIT campus, there were tennis courts, cricket grounds, swimming pools, badminton courts. We were exposed to every sport, but cricket always came first.
The ICC has granted MLC List-A status. What do you think about this?
Thanks for bringing that up. The T20 World Cup, the List A status, the Olympics all show the ICC’s commitment to the US as a market and as a future cricketing power. We’re very grateful for that. The List A status motivates the players to perform at their best no matter what. They’re professionals. Even last year they gave it their all, playing in this heat and all the challenges. It’s extra motivation to know that their stats count towards their international numbers, which is great.
What do you think of American cricket sensation Saurabh Netravalkar, who has made a huge impact on the T20 World Cup?
He is a once-in-a-generation kind of individual. He is part of the Washington Freedom team and played Under-19 cricket for India alongside the likes of KL Rahul. At some point, he decided, for good reasons, to step away from cricket and focus on college. He went to Cornell University, an Ivy League school, where he did his Masters degree. He then moved to Silicon Valley to work in technology before rediscovering his passion for cricket and excelling in it. He even dismissed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for his bowling skills.

Apart from cricket, he is also a great musician. We recognized his talent before he gained widespread recognition and we have a special affection for him because he is such a genuinely kind person. His wife is equally kind-hearted. Despite achieving great success at the World Cup and reaching the peak of his career, he always picked up the phone and spoke to me when I called him to congratulate him. He is a great team member, calm, collected, humble and down to earth. He is an example of kindness and is a multi-talented individual.
Now that cricket will be part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, how important will that be for the sport in the US?
Huge! I think there will be a lot of momentum now for dollars to come in to promote cricket in the US. The US wants to excel in every sport that they play, and there is so much infrastructure built here in terms of academies, etc. For example, in our team we have a player who was born in the US and was a reserve for the US national team. That in itself is a big statement. We are going to see more and more of such developments.
There is a lot of interest because these kids have grown up watching their parents play cricket and watching cricket at 3 in the morning. It's in their muscle memory. They see a future in cricket where they have the chance to be the next Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, and there are a lot of opportunities for them — playing in the IPL, MLC, other leagues, representing the US team, securing big sponsorships. There is a clear path now and we are very grateful to the ICC, the Times Group and everyone else involved for their support.