Lu wishes good luck to Bangladesh national cricket team
US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, Donald Lu extended his country's best wishes to the Bangladesh national cricket team ahead of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup to be held in the United States and West Indies.
"We wish the Bangladesh Men's National Team incredible good luck," he told newspersons after playing a friendly match with the Bangladesh Women's cricket team.
He also wished the best in their future endeavours for the Bangladesh Women's cricket team.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) already announced the fixtures for the ninth ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, taking place from 3 to 20 October in Bangladesh, an event that promises to inspire and connect with a new generation of fans across the globe.
Ten teams will play 23 matches, over 18 action-packed days, at two venues in Bangladesh, the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka and the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet as the world’s best battle it out for the ultimate prize in T20 cricket.
Both the Men's and Women's teams were supposed to join Donald Lu and US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas but the Men could not join as they were about to leave the country on Wednesday for the world cup.
Bashundhara Group vice-chairman Safwan Sobhan welcomed Donald Lu and Peter Haas when they reached Bashundhara Sporting Club Complex.
"I would like to thank Bangladesh Cricket Board and Bashundhara Group," Lu said.
"I never played cricket before but we tried. It's really a lot of fun. And we are super excited to see the Women's World Cup in Bangladesh," he said.
Former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said the US side wanted to interact with them. "They are quite happy to interact. They know cricket is very popular in Bangladesh."
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 the United States facing Canada in Texas.
Bangladesh's campaign begins on 7 June, against Sri Lanka in Dallas, followed by a match against South Africa in New York on 10 June.
The team will then travel to the West Indies for their remaining two first-round matches.