In a bid to fine-tune their preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in USA and Caribbean next month, the Indian cricket team will take on Bangladesh in a single practice match ahead of the tournament.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday outlined the schedule for warmup fixtures prior to the marquee event getting underway in June. As per the fixtures released, Team India led by Rohit Sharma will face immediate neighbours Bangladesh in their solitary practice game on June 1st. The venue where the India-Bangladesh clash will be played is yet to be determined by cricket’s governing body.
A total of 16 warmup matches have been planned by ICC in the lead-up to the big-ticket tournament. The fixture between India and Bangladesh will conclude the list of warmups for the participating nations.
In a departure from previous editions, teams now have an option of playing up to two warmup fixtures instead of just one. However, these games will be limited to 20 overs per side and won’t hold any international T20 status. The arrangement will help squads test various combinations and give all 15 players in the squad a chance to get some valuable match time under their belts ahead of the World Cup challenge.
While India will be squaring off against Bangladesh, arch-rivals Pakistan and England find themselves in a contrasting situation. The two sides don’t have any exhibition matches scheduled and will instead be engaged in a four-match T20I series being held in England later this month to prepare.
Among the other pre-tournament fixtures lined up include Australia taking on hosts West Indies on May 30th in Trinidad. Coach Graeme Smith’s South Africa squad will also play an intra-squad practice match in Florida a day earlier.
With the main event less than a month away, the warm-up fixtures will give all teams crucial bandwidth to assess combinations, game strategies and work on areas that need improvement before launching their title quests in the T20 World Cup 2024.
