Internet Desk: Come September, cricket fans in the United States can witness Indian ODI captain MS Dhoni clashing with Indian test captain Virat Kohli in a series of exhibition matches at Houston in September.
According to highly placed sources in the BCCI , three franchises namely Mumbai Indians, RCB and Rising Pune Supergiants have expressed their desire to play some exhibition matches in the US where there is a sizeable Indian and South Asian population.
The matter is expected to be discussed at the IPL Governing Council meeting in Bengaluru tomorrow before the IPL final.
According to sources, although Houston is chalked out as the likely venue, the dates are not yet finalized. There was a possibility that the matches could happen in the window between India’s tour of Zimbabwe and West Indies. But it could now be held in September also. All three teams are expected to play against each other.
For the BCCI officials, it would be an opportunity to test waters in the US market which had remained untapped so far.
According to a BCCI official, “In the US, T20 is the only game that can be marketed because of its duration. If we have to squeeze in a Mini-IPL next year, this is the time to send the popular franchises like MI, RCB and check what’s the response of NRIs and Indian diaspora.”