Florida, August 25: The southern coast of the USA was buzzing with Team India's arrival in the city of Fort Lauderdale. The current T20 Champions - West Indies and India will play a two T20 international series at the Central Broward Regional Park.
In an attempt to popularize the sport in non-cricketing nations, the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) reached out to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for a two match T20 International Series to be played in Florida, USA on August 27 and 28. As a result, competitive International Cricket will be played on American soil for the very first time.
On what was supposed to be a day off for the Indian Cricket Team, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar chose to visit the home of Miami Heats in U.S.A. on Thursday.
The latest recruit of the Miami Heats – Tyler Johnson and Briante Weber hosted the Indian trio at their home ground – The American Airlines Arena. The Indian contingent was taken around the locker room, gymnasium and the recuperation center before indulging in a brief bout of play between the five of them.
Shikhar and Bhuvneshwar were chatting up with the hosts, while Ashwin seemed to have gone back to his school days of playing basketball.
The other Indian players had a field day in the new country as some of them went around shopping, while a few others chose to relax at the hotel. The Social Media handles of players and the BCCI were active with posts and pictures ever since they landed in the USA.
The Indian contingent reached the city on Tuesday morning. MS Dhoni, the skipper of the Indian ODI and T20 team reached Florida on Wednesday with Jasprit Bumrah.
Quotes from Players :
Bhuvneshwar Kumar said: “It was great to see these guys and learn about their game. I was impressed with the facilities here and it was a learning experience for me to see the amount of technology being used in sports science.”
Speaking about his visit at the Miami Heats home arena, R Ashwin said: “I've played a bit of Basketball during my school days so that got me really excited while I tried my hand again after so many years. I am thankful to both Weber and Johnson for taking time out and showing us around their home turf.”
“It was great fun. I am very happy we could make it here. Exchanging thoughts about how the sports have transformed with the latest technology is always good. While I tried to explain these guys how Cricket is played, they in return taught me the finer details of Basketball,” said Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan.
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