India likely to play their sole T20 World Cup warm-up against Bangladesh in New York

New Delhi, May 16

India’s only warm-up game ahead of the T20 World Cup is likely to be played against Bangladesh in New York on June 1, the day when Canada will play co-hosts USA in the tournament opener in Dallas.

The 34,000 capacity makeshift stadium at Eisenhower Park was officially launched by legendary sprinter Usain Bolt on Wednesday.

Teams usually play two warm-up games ahead of an ICC event but the tight scheduling will not allow all 20 sides to do that ahead of the tournament proper.

The IPL ends on May 26 and less than a week later the T20 World Cup begins.

As India play their first three league games in New York, they want the warm-up to be played at the same venue to avoid travel. The other two venues in USA are Dallas and Fort Lauderhill near Miami.

Playing the warm-up in New York will also provide India much needed knowledge on the conditions. The stadium, built on a park, was readied in less than five months with construction starting only in January.

“The scheduling has been really tight for this World Cup and could have been handled better. You needed a longer gap between the IPL final and the World Cup opener. Teams like Pakistan and England will also be playing a bilateral series 24 hours before the tournament starts,” a BCCI source told PTI.

The fourth and final T20 between England and Pakistan is scheduled in London on May 30. It is a given that both teams will only have time for a single warm-up before they begin their campaign.

Pakistan open their campaign against the USA in Dallas on June 6, while England take on Scotland in Barbados on June 4.

A record 20 teams are taking part in the competition, adding to the scheduling challenge. 16 teams took part in the previous edition in Australia two seasons ago.

USA, Canada and Ugana will make their T20 World Cup debut.