Honing their skills over hours of practice each week, the Wichita State Cricket Club, consisting of 120 members, plays the sport both in a competitive league and recreationally. The club is open to players of all backgrounds and skill levels and always welcomes newcomers.
According to Sai Karthik Garnepudi, president of the club, cricket can be a major incentive for many international students to attend WSU, especially now that the team’s new cricket ground is less than five minutes from campus.
“Cricket is something more than religion for people in India, for many countries that play cricket, so this is a major aspect of life,” Garnepudi said. “And since WSU is thinking about that, and you know, we are having our own ground, it makes things easy for students who are traveling from India to choose WSU over some other university.”
As president of the club, Garnepudi has communicated with international students from countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, teaching them about the team. Although the team is largely made up of students from Asian countries, Garnepudi hopes to help more students from other continents join.
“We are trying to find students from African countries, mainly, (as well as) Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom,” Garnepudi said. “I don’t know how many students (actually travel) from these places, but even if we have a smaller population come, I still wanted to give them the idea that we still play cricket here, and there are facilities for them to play.”
According to club member Phani Teja Palakodety, the cricket team players are “more like brothers than teammates.”
“We don’t treat them as players; we are like brothers when we are on the field,” Palakodety said. “Every player has their own strength. Every player tries to approach other players to gain some knowledge about their batting style or bowling style, so that it’ll be better for me or any other player in the team to improve themselves.”
Club member Sreekanth Chalasani explained that although the team is close, the dynamic also changes frequently as members graduate.
“We always try to help the new guys (learn) how to communicate,” Chalasani said. “Like, how to learn the American lifestyle. Then, the best thing … is once we are inside the team and we know each other … we will be outside the field, like we catch up every weekend; we go out together as a team.”
Palakodety says he enjoys being on the team and playing cricket to relieve stress.
“It just (makes me) break free of all my tensions and headaches,” Palakodety said. “And then you also get a lot of enjoyment playing the sport, and then you get to meet new people. (There’s) a lot of emotions and adrenaline rush during this game.”
While the team is currently playing games in the league, it is open to all players and skill levels and hopes to teach new members the game.
Anyone interested in the club can learn more by following the team on Instagram or joining practices on Friday evenings at Dr. Glen Dey Park on Hillside and 28th Street.
