US to see historic launch of T20 matches

NEW YORK: The T20 World Cup to be played in America from June 2 will be a unique addition to the history of the game of cricket.

It is difficult to get a ticket for India-Pakistan match worth Rs362,000 even at Rs696,250. In America, where people are obsessed with sports like baseball and ice hockey, the game of cricket is being presented commercially with a historic and unique reception.

One of the reasons for this is millions of immigrants who came to America and Canada from the countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where people take much interest in cricket.

A 34,000-seat Modular Stadium has been built for just eight matches of T20 cricket in Nassau County, Long Island, a suburb of New York City.

Although the T20 tournament will begin on June 2 with a match between US and Canada at Grand Prairies Stadium in Texas, the main focus of attention, publicity and business is New York and its Nassau County International Cricket.

At this venue, the match between Pakistan and India on June 9 is being considered as the most important event. The tickets for this match are difficult to get even at much higher price of $2,500.

Apart from the match between Pakistan and India, increase in ticket prices for other matches is less. The announced price of the ticket for Pakistan-Canada match on June 11 started from $79.

In addition to eight matches at Modular Stadium, four matches will be played in Prairie Stadium in Texas and four others in the state of Florida.

A total of 16 matches will be played in America, while the remaining 39 matches between June 1 and June 29 will be played in West Indies and various neighbouring islands, where cricket fans form a large part of the population.