Recreational cricket ground included in Microsoft’s headquarter

The blueprint for the 2.5 million square-foot expansion of Microsoft's campus was unveiled on November 28.

The blueprint of Microsoft's new cricket pitch in Redmond | ESPNCricinfo

The American multinational technology company Microsoft has included the facilities of cricket at their company headquarters near Seattle, as per the reports in ESPNCricinfo.

It is understood that this is the first instance wherein a recreational cricket ground has been incorporated as part of a major corporate or community project in the United States. The campus of Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington is spread out in the mammoth area of 2.5 million square-foot and the template for the cricket facilities was unveiled on November 28.

This move certainly reveals the passion of cricket among the technology giants present in Microsoft. In particular, the company’s Asian ex-pat employees including its current CEO, Satya Nadella, who is a self-confessed cricket aficionado and also was a promising off-spinner during his early days.

"Cricket for most of us South Asians is an obsession. I grew up with it, I played under some amazing captains, and ever since, I think, even in my day job, I reflect back on the lessons learned on the dusty fields of the Deccan Plateau," Nadella told ESPNcricinfo.

Earlier this year, the Hyderabad born Microsoft CEO has admitted that he enjoys watching India’s elegant batsman Rohit Sharma play. In fact, Nadella had compared the Mumbai batter stroke play with that of India’s legendary batsman VVS Laxman.

“I love watching Rohit Sharma play, you know that follow through of his, his cover drives. He reminds me of VVS Laxman. When he (Rohit) is on song, I think he is just glorious to watch,” Nadella had said in an interview with TOI.

The 50-year-old Nadella, who is fond of Test cricket, had also praised India’s seasoned spinner Ravichandran Ashwin by saying that the Tamil Nadu offie possesses a unique talent of delivering six different bowls in an over.

“Unfortunately I don’t have time, but I follow it through cricinfo quite a bit, I love Test cricket. I think Virat Kohli is someone who is very special. It’s awesome to see the Indian pace attack. I think R Ashwin is someone who can bowl six different balls in an over, with his variety of balls,” Satya Nadella had said.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 23 Dec, 2017

    Share Via