American College Cricket signs agreement with Cricket For India

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An agreement signed between American College Cricket, an organization founded in 2008, and Cricket for India, an online platform dedicated to all things cricket around the world Nov. 27. 2021, is already paying dividends for the U.S.-based organization.

New York-based Founder and President of American College Cricket, Lloyd Jodah, told Desi Talk, students coming from India would have yet another incentive for applying to American colleges, and the Internet presence of his organization had already felt the impact with an expanded footprint since the Nov. 27 agreement.

Cricket for India has a following of more than 3.7 million cricket aficionados, according to a press release, and now by “crossing the oceans to join hands with American College Cricket to digitally promote college level cricket players in USA, India, Canada and worldwide,” it is a win-win situation for all sides.

“We’ve seen the actual physical benefits of this agreement,” Jodah told Desi Talk. “Most of our cricketers are players of Indian origin, many of them international students. It tremendous news from both angles – every Indian student in India who plays cricket would be attracted to the fact that American colleges have the game; And this level of the game hasn’t got that kind of publicity as we have got – when one of our posts reached a quarter million people when posted by Cricket for India!” Jodah said in wonderment, comparing to other posts that on average reach 8,000 to 10,000 viewers.

Jodah said ACC even had a U.S. Marine as a player in its teams, emphasizing, “We would like to weave this game into the mainstream.”

“Cricket for India partnering with American College Cricket means our college teams and players’ stories can now have an audience of millions! This is very inspiring,” Sai Satish Guda, captain of the West Virginia University cricket team, is quoted saying in the press release.

Echoing his sentiments, Aditya Sen, the former Captain of the University of Florida Cricket team said, “Cricket for India highlighting American College Cricket will expose American and Canadian universities to millions of Indians, bringing more international students to study and play cricket in the US and Canada!”

Jodah described the agreement as “innovative and of great importance” bringing “enormous attention and value to our teams, young players and this development level of the game in the world’s richest sports market.”

According to Jodah, “Already we’ve seen a 2,000 % increase in reach, and we’ve only just begun to work on many projects together.”

Cricket for India was Co-founded by Ritika Hiranandani, an entrepreneur and strategist for technology initiatives in the sports and fintech space. She is the Chief Digital Architect of Cricket for India (CFI).

“Through Cricket for India’s Facebook & website, American College Cricket players and teams are getting recognition among international stars of the game,” Hiranandani said. “This encourages young cricketers studying in the US to play their favourite sport and feel a sense of pride by getting noticed on a platform followed by millions.”

Already, the International Cricket Council, or the ICC, global cricket’s governing body, awarded USA co-hosting of the 2024 edition of the T20 Cricket World Cup (with West Indies), which is a first step to the sport being included in the 2028 Olympic Games as well, said the press release.

To date American College Cricket has hosted its National Championship in Florida every year since 2009 (plus Regional Tournaments around USA). Since 2016 SONY has been the Exclusive Broadcast Partner of American College Cricket.