Cricket gaining a foothold in George Washington University campus

WASHINGTON - The game of cricket, it seems, is picking up in university campuses in the Washington D.C. area.

Americans, Indians and Pakistani undergrads are making sure that the sport gains ina foothold in places like George Washington University, holding practice sessions before an actual match. Most of them such as Ishaan Prakash, 20, and Ankit Sheth, a team founder, say there have been a lot of barriers that have had to be overcome.

Some students like 20-year-old Muslim-born sophomore Mustafa Karim revel in the excitement of the game, swinging his cricket bat and knocking the ball over the fence for six.

n getting out,he strolls to the sidelines and is greeted with a flurry of high-fives and back slaps. The fact that he scored just 20 runs is inconsequential.

The game is between undergraduates and a team of George Washington University graduate students and attracted just three spectators, who sat in the shade on a hill overlooking the field.

The team was started two years ago by Ali Sternberg and Ankit Sheth.

For the record, the GWU undergrads beat the graduate students, 87 runs all out in 20 overs to 62 runs all out in 15.2 overs, numbers that would be gibberish to most Americans. (ANI)