India to start T20 WC campaign with warm up games against Sri Lanka, Pakistan

Colombo: India will start their Twenty20 World Cup campaign with warm up games against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

India will play Sri Lanka on September 15th at the P. Sara Oval and later on face their arch rivals Pakistan at the R. Premdasa Stadium on September 17. The Twenty20 World Cup begins on September 18th. The India-Pakistan encounter, part of the warm-up schedule drawn up by the International Cricket Council, is the only one of 12 practice games that will be telecast live. Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez said: “It is usually a high-pressure game and good for us to experience it early.” The Indian cricket team held its first practice session in Colombo on Thursday after reaching Sri Lanka ahead of the ICC World Twenty20. The Indian squad, including star batsman Yuvraj Singh trained hard at the Colts Cricket Ground under coach Duncan Fletcher. Fletcher said: “We have come here with the belief that we can win the World Twenty20. We look forward to the two warm-up games which will give us the preparation we require for the tournament.” Yuvraj, who played a major role in putting the T20 format on the world map when he blasted six sixes in one over off England’s Stuart Broad during the inaugural World Cup in South Africa in 2007, is back in the Indian team after fighting a rare germ cell cancer. Earlier on Wednesday, the Indian cricket team arrived here for the ICC World Twenty20, which kicks off on September 18. India`s squad for the ICC World Twenty20 includes Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, L. Balaji, Ashok Dinda, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh and Manoj Tiwary. ANI