Kumble ‘impressed’ with Florida’s facilities

India head coach Anil Kumble has expressed surprise at how good the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium is, and says he expected a 'makeshift' venue for their T20s against the West Indies in the USA.

The two matches this weekend will be India's first foray into the US, cricket-wise, and Kumble says he was mightily impressed with the Florida venue, and expected a below par ground, despite it being accredited by the ICC.

Kumble said: "I certainly didn't expect the facilities to be as good as what it is in the United States. I certainly felt that it could be a makeshift.

"I had heard about Florida and this ground, but very impressed with the facilities that we have seen. It's the first time that I'm seeing this ground and the wickets are good, ideal probably for a T20, and the practice facilities have been good, the outfield looks fantastic.

"So all in all, really impressed with the facilities here.

"It's a wonderful initiative and we are really looking forward to our matches here, it's going to be a sell out. We know US… the expats and the huge Indian diaspora who are wanting for quality cricket to come to the US.

"We have played in the past in the West Indies and a lot of Indians come over form the US to watch us. So this is a great opportunity for all of them and I'm sure this is the start of a new beginning in the United States and I'm sure there will be a lot more of the Indian team in the US going forward."

India won the Test series two-nil, with the fourth match drawn due to a poor outfield, but Kumble is well aware that the Windies' T20 side is a different beast altogether, given they are the World T20 champions.

Kumble added: "West Indies has always been a tough side, they are the T20 world champions. About the shift that we need to make from Test cricket to T20, the West Indies players may not have to do that because some of them are coming straight from the CPL.

"They are quality cricketers and have shown consistently how good they are and we had a tough match in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup as well. In terms of the quality that we are going to encounter, we are aware of that.

"It's going to be a challenge and I think the Indian team has done really well over the last six months as a T20 side as well so that's something that we are looking forward to."

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