Most members of the Indian team had their first training session after arriving in New York City ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup. The session took place on Tuesday at a local facility. However, star player Virat Kohli has yet to join the squad in New York, raising doubts about his participation in India’s only warm-up fixture against Bangladesh on June 1 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. The BCCI has not provided any updates on Kohli’s travel status.

Team arrives in batches

The Indian team has traveled to New York in batches. Players from teams eliminated after the league stage of IPL 2024 traveled first, with the exception of Hardik Pandya, who took a break before joining the squad. Subsequently, other players joined as their respective teams were eliminated from the playoffs.

“We’ve not yet played cricket. We’ve come here for a team activity today,” Jasprit Bumrah said. “Hopefully it will be good. The weather is really good. So looking forward.”

“They have been away for two-and-a-half months from us [the national team setup]. Just getting them together to know where they stand, what needs to be done before the World Cup was the goal,” Desai said of the Tuesday session. “[The] goal is to spend 45 minutes to an hour there on the park to again get going.

“We want to see them move. We want to see them run so that we can put enough plans in place for each guy to be ready for the first game.

Hardik, who took a short break after the IPL before linking up with the team, seemed excited to be playing in a new part of the world, talking up “the good vibe”, while Ravindra Jadeja was expecting to have “super, super fun”, and Suryakumar Yadav felt the first day out “was amazing”.

Training routine underway

Soham Desai, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, shared insights into the training routine being followed by the players. Having been part of the intense IPL 2024 season, the players are gradually easing into match-readiness. Desai mentioned, “Eased into our routines here, the idea was to just get used to the time zone,” in a video posted by the BCCI on social media. The players engaged in warm-up activities, runs, basic strength and conditioning exercises, and some football drills.

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India’s first match at the T20 World Cup is scheduled for June 5 against Ireland. This will be followed by group-stage fixtures against Pakistan on June 9, USA on June 12, and Canada on June 15. The initial three games will be held in New York, while the last game will take place in Lauderhill, Florida.