(AFP Photo)
The larger the event, the greater the distances teams must cover. This has become an unwelcome reality for numerous teams participating in the T20 World Cup, as the tournament sprawls across the vast expanses of the USA and the Caribbean.
With matches taking place in iconic locations like New York City, the coastal retreats of Florida, and southern Dallas, traversing the American landscape alone presents a formidable challenge.
Adding to the complexity is the inclusion of Caribbean venues such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Antigua, among others. This creates a logistical nightmare for several teams.
In fact, 12 teams will be required to relocate 2-3 times during the group stage, while 4 teams face the daunting prospect of relocating 4 times within the same period.
Unfortunately, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Scotland, and Bangladesh find themselves in this latter category, having to change base four times between the warm-up matches and the conclusion of the initial round.
Bangladesh finds themselves in the most challenging position, facing a daunting journey spanning a total of 9221 km. Their itinerary includes traveling from Dallas to New York, back to Dallas, then to New York once more, before finally ending their journey in Kingstown.
In contrast, the defending champions, England, are in a much more favorable position. They are slated to play all their initial matches within the Caribbean itself, resulting in a significantly shorter and more manageable travel distance of just 505 km.
Below is a breakdown of the travel distances each team must undertake during their group stage matches, listed in descending order:
1. Bangladesh – 9,921 km
2. Sri Lanka – 8,097 km
3. Netherlands – 7,380 km
4. Nepal – 4,214 km
5. Canada – 3,922 km
6. USA – 3,922 km
7. Pakistan – 3,922 km
8. Ireland – 3,434 km
9. South Africa – 3,306 km
10. India – 1,717 km
11. West Indies – 1,709 km
12. Afghanistan – 1,521 km
13. Papua New Guinea (PNG) – 1,246 km
14. Uganda – 1,246 km
15. Scotland – 1,242 km
16. Australia – 1,195 km
17. Namibia – 924 km
18. Oman – 891 km
19. New Zealand – 623 km
20. England – 505 km
In addition to the below-par quality of pitches, particularly in the USA, the exhausting schedule faced by certain teams adds another layer of challenge.
Sri Lanka spinner Maheesh Theekshana expressed his concerns about the scheduling, believing it has had a detrimental effect on the team, following their defeat to South Africa.
“So unfair for us, we have to leave every day (after the match) because we are playing (at) four different venues,” Theekshana said.
“The flight we took from Florida, from Miami, we had to wait like eight hours in the airport to get the flight. We were supposed to leave at 8 pm but we got the flight at 5 am. It’s really unfair for us, but it doesn’t matter when you play,” he added.
Regardless of their preferences, teams must endure and navigate through the challenges both metaphorically and literally as the tournament advances each day.
