Delhi: Lalit Modi, the first chairman and founder of the Indian Premier League (IPL), has recently expressed his opinion on cricket in America. He said that cricket in America can be successful only when it involves legendary players like Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni. In a conversation with former Australian cricketer Michael Clarke, Lalit Modi also revealed that he had talked to West Indies star batsman Chris Gayle about Major League Cricket (MLC) of America.

Lalit Modi spoke on MLC

Lalit Modi said that after the end of a version of MLC, he called Gayle. Sharing this conversation, he said, “I asked Gayle what the atmosphere was in Texas. So he said, brother, there is nothing. The stadium was empty. No one is interested in cricket.”

He also said that the craze of cricket in America will come only when there will be big names there. Giving examples, he said that if the players like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Michael Clarke or Brett Lee are in the field, then people will come to watch the match with tickets. But if someone plays an unknown name like Virat Singh or Lalit Singh, then no one will spend money.

The ICC had held some matches of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the US. Except for India’s matches, very few spectators arrived in the rest of the matches. Despite this, the United States Cricket Association started Major League cricket. But, as expected, this league has not yet received the same response.

Modi believes that only includes cricket in the Olympics will not make its future in America. He said that this will neither happen in this decade nor for the next 50 years.