[WATCH] New York’s Empire State Building lights up as T20 World Cup 2024 trophy tour kicks off

The international cricket stage will soon witness a festival-like atmosphere as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 approaches. With just a few months to go for the ninth edition of the tournament to begin, the ICC launched the World Cup trophy tour in New York.

The 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup will be played at two locations - the USA and the West Indies - and the trophy tour saw New York’s Empire State Building being lit up, to start with.

Two-time World Cup winner Chris Gayle and USA’s Ali Khan did the honors as the former pulled the lever to light up the tower in the official colors of the tournament. The ICC shared a video of the iconic venue being lit up in pink and blue, with ‘Empire State of Mind’ by Jay-Z serving as the background music.

Here’s the video of the occasion:

To invite fans to participate in the 'Out of this World' cricket festival and get a closer look at the most coveted cup, the trophy will travel to 15 nations across four continents, passing by sporting teams and stadiums, well-known monuments, and renowned cricket players.

ICC announces schedule for first month of trophy tour

While the trophy will tour 15 countries, it will also be taken to the developing nations in the Americas like Argentina, Brazil, and Canada, to attract new cricket fans.

The schedule for the first month of the trophy tour was announced by the ICC on March 19, Tuesday. The prized silverware will be in New York till March 20 before moving to Houston, Grand Prairie and Dallas. It will be there from March 21-23 and will then arrive in Buenos Aires on March 26.

The trophy will then be seen in Sao Paulo on March 28-29 before making its way to Jamaica (April 3-4) and Barbados (April 13-14). To conclude the first month of the activities, the trophy will then tour Antigua and Barbuda (April 18) before finally reaching Saint Lucia on April 19.

Notably, the T20 World Cup 2024 will be played across Dallas, Florida and New York in the USA. Seven venues in the West Indies, namely Dominica, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Guyana, and Trinidad & Tobago, will also serve as hosts.