Cricket has arrived in the United States of America in a big way with India all set to take on the West Indies in two Twenty20 Internationals at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill, Florida on Saturday and Sunday.
The Indian team, which arrived in the US a couple of days ago after winning the four-Test series 2-0, have been enjoying the experience.
In the first practice session held in Lauderhill, all members of the Indian team had a good warm-up session. Virat Kohli, the Test captain, obliged some of the fans present at the stadium with photographs.
Kohli has been in amazing form in T20Is in 2016, scoring 625 runs at an average of 137 and also smashing a record 973 runs in the 2016 Indian Premier League. The dashing right-hander will be determined to get his revenge on the West Indies, who knocked India out of the semi-final of the World T20.
MS Dhoni, who has won three consecutive Twenty20 bilateral series, was in discussion with coach Anil Kumble.
Before the practice session, India's players have been enjoying themselves in the US. Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan all had a basketball session with the Miami Heat NBA giants. There was also a team dinner held at the hotel.
Lauderhill has hosted a total of four Twenty20 Internationals in 2010 and 2012. New Zealand took on Sri Lanka in two T20Is in 2010 and the series ended 1-1. In 2012, West Indies took on New Zealand and they thrashed the hapless Kiwis 2-0.