Cricket Gaining Ground In Oklahoma

By Kyle Dierking, NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- They have white wardrobes, strangely-shaped bats and bellowing voices that yell out jeers and cheers.

 "You kind of taunt them and try to get under their skin to get them out like any other game," said Vivek Singh.  

So what is this game? It gave birth to baseball but it's far from America's pastime.

"The sport is not that popular, but it's still catching up," Singh said.

In some parts of the world, its popularity blows past basketball and football. Still most Americans are more familiar with the bug that bears its name.

"I'm from India and cricket there is like a religion," Singh said. "You basically start following cricket at a young age.  You have your stars and heroes just like you do here in America."

Organized cricket has been in Tulsa for more than two decades. They take on teams from Oklahoma City and Wichita. So how do you understand the sport? Vivek Singh says think baseball.

"I have found that if a person knows baseball - if you get them introduced to terminologies, it's easy to explain to them," Singh said. "Since baseball originated from cricket, it's easy to tell them the rules and how thing s work. It's easily comprehendible."

So is how these guys take cricket.

"Off the field we are the best of friends - we sit together have drinks and everything," Singh said. "On the field, it's basically cut-throat. You're fighting for whoever comes up as winner."

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