India and West Indies to face-off on the shores of the United States this month

• International cricket is now making its maiden entry into the United States of America, on the 27^th and 28^th of August in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
• The two matches will be held at Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale, which was the same location where the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) matches had been held
• This venture is set to tap into the massive Indian Diaspora in the US and the unexplored cricket market of America

August 15, 2016: International cricket is now making its maiden entry into the United States of America, on the 27^th and 28^th of August in Fort Lauderdale, a city on Florida's south-eastern coast. The die-hard cricket fans living on the other side of the globe will now get to see their favorite stars in flesh and blood in a two-match Twenty20 International series match between India and the reigning World Twenty20 champions, West Indies.

The two matches will be held at Central Broward Regional Park in Fort Lauderdale, which was the same location where the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) matches had been held, mentioned a news portal.

After the American cricket governing body USACA's was suspended from membership of the ICC, the task to determine whether cricket matches would be staged in the USA fell to ICC. After a meeting during the ongoing Test series, both the cricket bodies, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), the decided to take cricket to the United States and make it popular. With an aim to develop cricket in the USA and unify the USA cricket community, the ICC sanctioned the two T20 matches between India and the West Indies to be held in Florida on the 27^th and 28^th of August.

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According to The Perspective, David Richardson, the chief executive of ICC, says, "The ICC has approved these matches because we believe they can play a significant role in the long-term development of cricket in the USA and our ongoing efforts to unify the USA cricket community. Having the ICC World T20 Champions playing India in Florida will undoubtedly inspire both existing and new fans and players, but perhaps more importantly, the sanction fees will be invested into the ICC's ongoing work to lay a sustainable foundation for the development of cricket in America."

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This venture is set to tap into the massive Indian Diaspora in the US and the unexplored cricket market of America and promote this wonderful sport in new countries, thus contributing to its growth. Anurag Thakur, the BCCI president, tells the TOI that, "America has round about 3.8 million Indians and a huge number of Asians. Everyone there is passionate about cricket and they travel across the world to support and watch 'Team India'."

Ajay Shirke who is the secretary of BCCI added that "This initiative is path breaking in terms of the expansion of our great sport. It is our endeavour to make every possible effort to connect with fans in different parts of the world."

The matches will start at 7:30 pm Indian Standard Time (IST) to keep the Indian TV audience in tune. With all the players of the Indian and West Indies team ready to face off in the new battlefield, the series is expected to draw the big Indian and Asian Diaspora to the ground.

– prepared by Ajay Krishna of NewsGram. Twitter: @ajkrish14

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