East Meadow siblings reflect on time at Cricket World Cup

People from all over the globe were represented in early June at the T20 Men’s Cricket World Cup at Eisenhower Park — even some people from right down the street.

Siblings Prisha and Praneel Gowda from just up the road in East Meadow were able to participate in the tournament in unique ways. Prisha, a sophomore from East Meadow High School, was a volunteer flag bearer for certain matches of the tournament, while her brother, Praneel, served as a chaperone for all anthem and flag bearer’s. The Herald heard from Prisha and Praneel, who eagerly shared their experiences.

Prisha Gowda

My name is Prisha Gowda. I am a sophomore at East Meadow High School. It was a wonderful experience volunteering as a flag bearer in the ICC T20 World Cup. We were so excited that the World Cup was being played in New York, right in our hometown. I volunteered for two games, South Africa vs Netherlands and India vs Pakistan.

This was my first experience of watching a cricket match in a stadium. I learned about the rules in the South Africa vs Netherlands game, which was a closely contested game.

India vs Pakistan was a completely different experience. This game was completely packed with close to 30,000 people and it was a great experience to watch an exciting game between two fierce rivals. The environment was electrifying and even though I was new to this game, I thoroughly enjoyed the game with my friends. It was a memorable experience.

I would like to thank the ICC for this opportunity — this was a once in a lifetime experience to be flag bearer for a T20 match.  It was such a wonderful experience and a great honor to be holding the flag and witness it.

We volunteers practiced in (the) Nassau Cricket Stadium under the supervision of ICC technical staff. We had rehearsals (the week before the games began), and also before the game started.

We learned about the respect held for the flags which we were holding. The flag should not touch the ground at anytime (and we learned) how to furl and unfurl the flag, and how to tilt the flag.

We carry flags of two competing nations, and an official ICC flag onto the field of play and into position for the national anthem ceremony.

This was a once in lifetime opportunity to be part of the ICC Cricket World Cup and gain access to the field of play.

It was truly an amazing experience.

Praneel Gowda

My name is Praneel Gowda. I (volunteered) as a chaperone for anthem and flag bearer kids at ICC T20 World Cup conducted in Eisenhower park in East Meadow.

(The) India vs Pakistan match was watched by more 400 million people across the world and approximately 34,000 inside the stadium.

We are so happy and excited that the World Cup is being played in New York. History was made on Long Island as the first-ever Cricket World Cup in the U.S was held at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow.

I live just 5 minutes away from the stadium. There was plenty of support for both teams and the crowd was fantastic.

Cricket has been played by my parents since childhood. When I tried batting for the first time, it was so much fun and I loved it. I have played cricket a couple of times with my dad and enjoy playing the game.

Twenty countries are competing for the 2024 T20 World Cup trophy in a 55-match tournament.

As a chaperone, I (was) responsible for managing around 10 anthem and flag bearer kids every day. There are a total of eight games played in New York. My role (was) to manage these kids, pick them up from their assigned spot in a school bus and take them to practice inside the stadium.

It (was) my responsibility to take care of them till their parents pick them up in the evening.

Many of these kids had taken days off from school to participate in this first Cricket World Cup hosted in U.S., and they all are very excited. These kids were fun to work with.

When these kids are holding the flag during the national anthem, it’s a great feeling that reflects the value of respect, unity and national pride that are often associated with sports and international competitions.

It was a great honor and a wonderful experience to witness flag bearers holding the flag and anthem kids bringing the players for the national anthem.