New York: The makeshift Nassau County cricket ground, which was built specifically for the T20 World Cup, is all set to be demolished after the New York leg of the event came to an end with India's seven-wicket victory over co-hosts USA here.
Built in just over 100 days, the stadium became notorious for its challenging drop-in pitches, which were sourced from Adelaide. The massive structure sat on the edge of the 930-acre Eisenhower Park in Long Island here.
The stadium had 10 drop-in pitches, four for the main ground and six for the adjacent training facility in Cantiague Park. "After the last match is held at East Meadow on June 12, the stadium will be dismantled, the parts shipped back to Las Vegas and another golf event, and Eisenhower Park will return to normal, but with a world-class cricket pitch left behind," a New York Times report had stated a few days ago.
The stadium that "almost popped up overnight" will be dismantled over a period of six weeks. It had a capacity of 34,000 and hosted a housefull crowd during India's marquee clash against Pakistan on June 9 with some tickets sold at an astronomical price of USD 2500 to USD 10,000.
India played four matches at the venue, including a warm-up game against Bangladesh after the ground was thrown open on June 1. The drop-in pitches hosted eight matches and produced unpredictable and occasionally dangerous bounce, resulting in particularly low scores in the first two matches where no team crossed 100 runs.