TICKETS SOLD OUT FOR INDIA’S FIRST-EVER OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL CRICKET SERIES IN THE U.S. THIS WEEKEND
The official Indian cricket team is set to play a two-match Twenty20 international series against defending champions West Indies at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium on August 27 and 28, 2016
August 27, 2016 – New Delhi/Lauderhill, FL. The official Indian cricket team is set to play its first-ever international series in the U.S. this weekend. Cricket enthusiasts from all over the U.S. are traveling to Lauderhill to watch the historic series, and the tickets for the two matches have already been fully sold out. The matches will begin on Saturday and Sunday at 10:00am EDT/ 7:30pm IST.
The Twenty20 international series against defending T20 champions West Indies will be played at Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, which is the U.S.’s only venue officially certified by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to host One Day Internationals (ODIs). The 110-acre multipurpose facility features a 560-feet diameter stadium with a 20,000 seating capacity.
Cricket is among the world’s most popular games that is played in over 100 countries. Of note, it was the national sport in America in the 18th and 19th century, and counts Benjamin Franklin among its fans.
Cricket is based on the same basic principle as baseball, though with different rules, terminology, playing equipment, number of players and field size. For example, the leather ball used in cricket is heavier by half an ounce and is thrown by a bowler, instead of a pitcher, by bouncing it off the ground and not through the air. Cricket has two batsmen or runners at a time, and scoring is based on four and six runs when the ball hits the boundary on the ground or in the air respectively, or as multiples of singles when the batsmen run between the wicket.
Says Lt. Anurag Thakur, President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI),“History repeats itself! It is a great coincidence that the audience strength for the first ever international matches being played by Team India in the U.S. is the same as the turnout for America’s cricket match with Canada in 1844, the first international sporting event of the modern world. Our fans are our biggest strength and with an aim to ensure that the game of cricket reaches them, this step has been undertaken. With the overwhelming response received so far on tickets, I am certain that this initiative will be well received by a large number of existing fans and cultivate a potential fan base.”
The Indian Cricket Team’s contingent for the two T20 International matches comprises of Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, K. L. Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra and Stuart Binny. The West Indies squad comprises of Andre Fletcher, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite (captain), Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Evin Lewis, Jason Holder, Johnson Charles, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, Marlon Samuels, Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine.
The 3.1 million strong Indian diaspora has contributed significantly in the progress of the U.S. and in bringing the world’s oldest and largest democracies together. According to the U.S.-India Business Council, U.S. companies have already invested $28 billion in India and are on track to invest an additional $45 billion in the next 2-3 years. During his address to the Joint Meeting of the U.S. Congress in June 2016, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had remarked, “The embrace of our partnership extends to the entirety of human endeavor — from the depths of the oceans to the vastness of the space. A strong India-U.S. partnership can anchor peace, prosperity and stability from Asia to Africa and from Indian Ocean to the Pacific. India and the U.S. have combined their strengths in science, technology and innovation to help fight hunger, poverty, diseases and illiteracy in different parts of the world. The constraints of the past are behind us and foundations of the future are firmly in place.” India and the U.S. are meeting for the Strategic & Commercial Dialogue in New Delhi next week.
For more details, please contact:
In the U.S.:
Esther Young, Gutenberg Communications
esther@gutenbergpr.com, +1.646.775.6314
In India:
Puneet Khunger, Gutenberg Communications
puneet@gutenbergpr.com, +91.9810191409