England's World Cup-winning cricketer, Liam Plunkett, believes that cricket superstars like Virat Kohli and Babar Azam can help boost the game in the United States during the T20 World Cup.
The tournament, which begins on June 1, is being jointly hosted by the United States and the West Indies.
The upcoming cricket tournament in the US will be a historic event, featuring a sell-out crowd at a temporary 34,000-seat venue in Long Island, New York.
The highly anticipated match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan may showcase a dramatic face-off between two of the world's best batsmen, Kohli and Azam.
During a video call from Philadelphia, Plunkett informed AFP:
"People don't believe that. People in America don't realise that more people watch India v Pakistan than watch the (NFL) Super Bowl, which is crazy."
England were reigning world champions in both one-day (50-over) and Twenty20 international cricket until last year.
But their defence of the 50-over crown, which Plunkett helped them win on home soil in 2019, ended in disappointment in India. They failed to reach the knockout stages.
Plunkett played his last international match in the 2019 World Cup final at Lord's. England won the one-day international format for the first time in a sudden-death 'Super Over' against New Zealand. It was a memorable match.
Now Plunkett, who has been troubled by back and calf injuries, is considering whether his body can withstand the demands of another season of MLC. The less demanding Masters and Legends circuit is also an option.
In the long term, Plunkett, who has relocated to the United States after marrying his American-born wife, is interested in contributing to the local cricket scene by establishing a cricket academy.