No, this is not a scene in India, where cricket became a national obsession after arriving on the wings of British colonialism. Try North Texas, where Friday Night Lights have made way for weekend afternoons on the pitch.
FRISCO, Texas — With the ornate spires of the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple anchoring the skyline behind them, a cricket batsman and bowler eyed each other across a brown grass field. Amid gusty winds, players waiting to bat watched intently from nearby bleachers. Friday Night Lights have made way for weekend afternoons on the pitch in North Texas
. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, Indians account for more than half the region's Asian population boom, with the Dallas suburb of Frisco alone experiencing growth to rival Seattle and Chicago.“In ’98, I came to the U.S. Then I stopped playing cricket because I didn’t have any availability here. Down the road four or five years later, I saw somebody playing cricket in Plano,” said Kalyan “K.J.” Jarajapu, a temple volunteer watching the Frisco-sponsored cricket league match.
Combine good jobs with reputable schools, affordable housing and warm weather, and the formula for growth is set. Immigrants aren't the only newcomers. Between 2015 and 2019, more than 17,000 people flocked to Frisco and surrounding Collin County from Dallas County and more than 8,000 from nearby Denton County, according to the Census Bureau.
The pandemic brought another shift. Suddenly, people from California or Chicago were able to work remotely but live elsewhere. Houston saw a tremendous influx of Asians in the last decade, with the second-highest growth rate after Dallas among major U.S. metros. “It was very sad and it was surprising,” said Tummala, the temple’s secretary. “But we definitely don’t take that and say 'OK, everybody in Texas is like that.’”
The anonymity of call-in radio shows on Azad — which means freedom in Hindi and Urdu — has allowed for difficult questions. Nearly three years ago, CEO Ayesha Shafi started monthly mental health segments, and listeners embraced them. They've tackled assimilation, bipolar disorder and domestic abuse.
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