The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, the venue for the India-Pakistan clash at the upcoming T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA, was officially launched by the world's fastest man and the brand ambassador for the tournament Usain Bolt on Wednesday. (More Cricket News)
The 34000-seater newly-built venue will host eight World Cup games with India playing three of its group games at the stadium.
The stadium will make its international debut on June 3 through the World Cup match between South Africa and Sri Lanka. However, before the World Cup, the stadium will host test events to test the infrastructure and other logistical facilities.
The venue will also reportedly host warm up matches in the lead-up to the World Cup including an India-Bangladesh game, which would become the first showdown between two international teams on the ground.
The stadium has been prepared on what was just a normal park land only five months ago. Located just 25 miles east of New York City, the stadium has drop-in pitches brought in from Florida
"We've turned what was park land and an informal cricket ground into what you'll agree looks like a world-class cricket stadium that you might find anywhere," Chris Tetley, ICC's head of events, said in a media interaction on Tuesday.
As per ESPNCricinfo Tetley said "community cricket events" would be staged in the last two weeks of May to get the knowledge about the operational demands and the management of the resources including testing the infrastructure.
"There will be proper cricket played there before the first match of the event," he said.
Apart from New York, Dallas and Texas will also be hosting four games each. The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 begins June 1 featuring for the first time in history 20 teams. The Final will be held on 29 June in Barbados.
