MIAMI: Rivals India and Pakistan will play their Twenty20 World Cup group game in New York on June 9 while co-hosts United States will take on Canada in the opening match, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Friday.

The expanded 20-team tournament is being jointly held by the United States and the West Indies and will get under way on June 1 at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas. Texas, when the USA take on Canada, both teams making their first appearances at a T20 World Cup.

A total of 16 games will be held in the United States — the first time that a major international cricket tournament is held in the country.

A new venue 30 miles east of downtown Manhattan will host the big clash between India and Pakistan — one of eight games to be held at the 34,000 stadium being built in Nassau County.

Lauderhill in South Florida, the most established cricket venue in the USA, will host games featuring India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

While cricket is a niche sport in the United States it does enjoy significant support from the South Asian and Caribbean communities in the country.

A record 20 teams were split into four groups with 55 games to be played in the month-long tournament, with the top two from each group qualifying for the Super Eight round.

Dallas, Florida and New York will host only group matches, while the Super Eight, semi-finals and final will be held in the West Indies. The final will be played in Barbados on June 29.

“The USA is already one of cricket’s biggest audiences for ICC events and bringing the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to New York City, Dallas and Florida is a massive opportunity to exponentially grow the sport,” said Peter Hutton, chair of T20 World Cup Incorporated, the entity established in the USA to deliver the event.

“We’ve got three fantastic venues to host... a unique cricket spectacle featuring the best players in the world,” he added.

ICC chief executive Geoff Allardice said the games in the USA represented a “new frontier” in the expension of the sport.

“It allows us to make a statement in the world’s biggest sports market,” he said. “It will also be great to have an ICC event back in the West Indies, which has such a rich history of the game. It has hosted World Cups with great success in the past and this tournament will certainly provide a boost to the game there, especially with the final being played in Barbados,” he added.

Defending champions England are in the same group as Australia, who won the 2021 tournament and also won the 50-over World Cup last year. The two Ashes rivals play each other on June 8 in Barbados.

The 2023 one-day international World Cup schedule was announced barely four months before the tournament began while there were also many matches rescheduled at the last minute, leaving travelling fans irate.

With the T20 World Cup schedule being released six months before the tournament, Cricket West Indies Chief Executive Johnny Grave said it marks a “significant milestone” in their preparations.

“We know that teams, fans and cricket enthusiasts worldwide have been eagerly awaiting this announcement. And now that it is available, it provides a roadmap for the thrilling journey that lies ahead,” Grave said.

Groups:

Group A: India, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, USA; Group B: England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland, Oman; Group C: New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda, Papua New Guinea; Group D: South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Nepal.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2024