New Delhi, Dec 15: With the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup set to be jointly held in the West Indies and United States of America (USA), India could be facing off against Pakistan in the group stage of the tournament at the pop-up stadium in Long Island, New York.

A report in The Guardian said the International Cricket Council and local organising committees will be signing on the full schedule on Friday, with the tournament to be held from June 4-30.

The Eisenhower Park on Long Island, which may host the India-Pakistan game, will have a temporary 34,000 seater cricket stadium, and cater to the huge number of Indian and Pakistani origin people in downtown Manhattan.

“Some changes to the schedule are still possible, but England and Australia will play all their group games in the Caribbean. It is understood that England’s games both in their initial, five-team group and, should they qualify from that, in the Super 8 round will all be in the British tourist hotspots of Antigua, Barbados and St Lucia, but the Australians will visit some of the region’s other venues, in St Vincent, Guyana and Trinidad,” said the report.

It further said the ICC inspectors have been visiting the Caribbean venues over the last fortnight, finishing in Guyana this week. “Though they found that some improvement and expansion is still necessary they have uncovered no significant issues. The venue for the final has not been confirmed but it is likely to be in Barbados, which has previously hosted the finals of the 2007 50-over World Cup and the 2010 T20 event,” added the report.

India hasn't won the Men’s T20 World Cup since lifting the trophy in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2007. They reached the final in 2014 edition of the tournament in Bangladesh, but lost to Sri Lanka by six wickets in the title clash.

England are defending champions of the tournament, having won the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, beating Pakistan in the final at the MCG. In the tournament, 20 teams will be divided into four groups of five each for the first round. Top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super eight stage. In Super eight, teams will be split into two groups of four each, with top two sides from two groups entering the semi-finals.

Hosts West Indies and USA, as well as Australia, defending champions England, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh have already qualified for the competition.

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Ireland, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Canada, Nepal, Oman, Namibia and Uganda will participate in the tournament after earning qualifications via their respective regional qualifying tournaments. (IANS)

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