Dallas will be not hosting any India T20 World Cup matches [X.com]
Passionate Indian fans based in New York would've erupted in a roar of joy seeing Team India's schedule for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in June as the famed city's to-be-built Nassau County International Stadium has been assigned three of the four group matches of the Rohit Sharma-led side.
India start off their campaign in Group A with a match against Ireland on June 5 at the ground before also hosting arch-rivals Pakistan on June 9 and then co-hosts USA at the same venue on June 12. India's last match has been assigned to Florida against Canada on June 15.
The itinerary, however, features no matches in Dallas' Grand Prairie Stadium, the third American venue to be used for T20 World Cup. Something which has caused a sense of disappointment to the home franchise of the Texas City, the Dallas Super Kings, which is an affiliated franchise of IPL's five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Why Dallas Is Hosting No India Game
"If the ICC wants to promote cricket in the US, they should have allotted an India game to us," Cricbuzz quoted CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan as saying.
While obviously the subcontinent-centric expat population of New York tilted the scales in favour of the city hosting more India games than other USA venues, Dallas was anticipated to host at least one of the lower-profile games for Rohit's men, maybe versus Ireland or Canada, since India already play quite regularly in Florida during West Indies trips.
However, even as it boasts of a permanent structure, what went against the venue is its smallest capacity of 7,500 and timings which would've posed a headache to the broadcasters. Nassau County International Stadium will have a capacity crowd of 34,000.
"This event isn't a great time zone for Star [the broadcaster which bankrolls most of ICC's finances], and we have to balance that with more local demands. Dallas is an hour further away from New York and the Caribbean, which makes scheduling an India game there impossible," an organizing official told Cricbuzz.
"The India games are the most attended. Why would we send them to the smallest venue in the USA to limit the number of fans who can attend?"
Dallas will be hosting the opening match of the biannual ICC tournament on June 1 between USA and Canada.
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