Indian and West Indian men’s cricket team is all set to play a couple of T20I matches in the United States, this August, as part of their full-fledged white-ball series.
Indian and West Indian men’s cricket team is all set to play a couple of T20I matches in the United States, this August, as part of their full-fledged white-ball series.
The two matches will be part of the full-fledged white-ball series, consisting of three One-Day Internationals and five T20Is, against their opponent West Indies. The last two games are expected to be played in Florida, United States.
The series will be likely played in the third week of July and early August and it is understood that Cricket West Indies (CWI) will host two American fixtures at Lauderhill, Florida, which has previously conducted six International games. India has previously played four games at the venue, some of them in 2016 and 2019.
Sources revealed that the Indian team will proceed directly to the Caribbean from England after a Test and six white-ball series. The schedule of the series has not been announced yet but it has been learned that three ODIs will be preceded by five T20I Internationals. After that, the West Indian players will join their respective franchises for the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which will start on August 29.
“Playing the last two T20Is in the US makes logistical sense for the Indian team,”
said a BCCI official in the know of the development. The CWI neither confirmed nor denied the American schedule with a top official saying,
“The Indian schedule will be announced soonest.” Most probably the two games will be played on August 6 and 7.
The Florida plan of the CWI is part of its long-term partnership with USA Cricket, which
“is aimed at gearing towards growing the game in the Americas by re-energizing the sport with a new generation of fans in the West Indies and unlocking cricket’s potential in the USA.”
It has already been announced that CWI and USA CA will jointly host the mega event of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in 2024.
An Indian official with interest in the development of the game in the US said the two Florida games that would be played at the venue could help reinvigorate the interest for cricket in the region.
“There has not been much international cricket in the US of late and if these games are played there, it is good for cricket in the US,”
the official said.
USA CA did not respond to a query from this website but it has already announced the launch of an IPL-style T20 league, called Major League Cricket (MLC). The MLC is scheduled to kick off next year with a soft launch expected later this summer.