Reports: India to play T20I Tri-Series in the US

According to reports Team India is likely to play a short tri-series in the United States of America this year. It will feature England and South Africa as the other two teams in the contest. In all probability, the tri-series will be played after Team India finishes off their proposed tour of West Indies this June-July. The 5 ODIs and one T20I tour starts from June 26 with the last match to be played on July 9.

The series will not be the first instance when Team India will play in front of the crowds in the US. Last year, the team had played 2 T20Is in Florida against West Indies. India had lost the series 1-0 after the ‘hosts’ West Indies had stunned the visitors in the first game by 1 run and the second game ended being a washout.

Dhoni had hailed the venues in the US

Interestingly, the triangular arrangement is expected to be a T20I series. Considering the US as a new market for cricket, this could be a very good experiment with three big nations competing in front of the crowds there. Certainly, the shortest format of the game is the ideal one for the expansion of the game to countries where cricket is not a popular sport.

Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni had also quoted US as a good place to play cricket after the conclusion of the T20I series against West Indies last year.

“This is one place where we can come back and play cricket. A triangular or four-nation series. A tournament like that can give us more time to spend in the US. Yes, it will be a cramped schedule, but modern-day cricketers won’t mind it,” Dhoni had said back then.

Incidentally, the move could also be seen as BCCI’s attempt to convince the English and the South African boards to support them for the revenue model tussle with the ICC. Some BCCI officials had recently expressed that the board should talk regarding the same with their West Indies counterparts before going forward the ODI series as well.