T20 World Cup: Donald Lu to meet BCB officials, cricketers

As part of sports diplomacy, visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu will get engaged with Bangladeshi cricket stars on Wednesday afternoon.

Donald Lu, accompanied by US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter D Haas, will meet Bangladesh Cricket Board and players at Bashundhara Sports Complex, an informed official said.

Donald Lu and Peter Haas will meet the cricketers and board officials to extend their best wishes ahead of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup to be held in the United States and West Indies.

Shakib Al Hasan, MP, among others, will be there.

The special event marks the Bangladesh cricket team's participation in the inaugural T20 World Cup in the US.

The 2024 Men's T20 World Cup starts on 2 June at 01:30 BST with hosts United States facing Canada in Texas.

Bangladesh's campaign begins on June 7, against Sri Lanka in Dallas, followed by a match against South Africa in New York on June 10.

The team will then travel to the West Indies for their remaining two first-round matches.

Prior to the tournament, Bangladesh will play a practice match against India in New York on June 1 and a three-match T20I-Series against the hosts, USA, in Houston. This series will also feature the World Cup Squad.

Lu arrived here on Tuesday morning to "strengthen bilateral cooperation" and to demonstrate US support for a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

He is scheduled to leave Dhaka for Washington early Thursday after his meetings with the ministers, government officials, civil society leaders, and other Bangladeshis.

He came here to talk about deepening Bangladesh-US cooperation, including "deepening the economic ties in ways that the two countries can collaborate further to address climate issues."