T20 World Cup 2024: Concerns Rise on New York Stadium Pitch Ahead of India-Pakistan Match

The Nassau County Cricket Stadium pitch in New York where India plays Pakistan on June 9 has raised concerns about the safety of batters. Meenakshi Rao reports on the issue of the untested drop-down pitches and unfavourable conditions

New York (USA):Ahead of the marquee India-Pakistan clash on New York’s big Sunday on June 9, concerns have risen vertically about the safety of batters, serious player injuries and dangerous conditions emanating from an unstable and unpredictable pitch at the Nassau County Cricket Stadium.

The strip has been fielding scathing criticism, being termed dangerous, unplayable, a joke and an embarrassment in intense conversations on X handles of former players, thanks to its uneven bounce, cracks giving bowlers unexpected fliers and the grass adding to the worries.

Imported from Adelaide recently, the pitches had to take a warm layover in Florida as New York was cringing under an extreme winter back then. By the time summer came to Long Island where the cricket stadium is, and the pitch could be brought in and laid out here, the World Cup was upon it. It had no time to acclimatise, settle in or be tested for safety under New York conditions.

The middle has four pitches which were transported from Florida in May and laid out at Nassau County. All are in the same set of conditions.

In the match against Ireland, even Arshdeep Singh was surprised by how the ball flew around and swung uncontrollably. One of his overs went for 10 balls as he tried to control the trajectory once it hit the surface and flew like a miscued rocket.

Arshdeep, who opened the bowling for the Indian unit against Ireland, said all the time he was trying to control the ball and his breath too when constant wides compelled him to bowl 10 deliveries in an extended over. “My effort was to bowl on scramble seam but that too was swinging too much,” he said.

Rohit Sharma had to retire hurt midway as an unexpected riser from Joshua Little rapped his shoulder bicep, thankfully to no major injury scare.

Virat Kohli could not fathom it and at least one Irish batter had to be taken for a mandatory concussion test after a ripper from Jasprit Bumrah ricocheted off the knuckles of Harry Tector to hit his helmet. Kohli, who took the ensuing catch, looked more concerned about the batter’s safety than joyous.

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan was unforgiving in his attack and declared on his X handle that it is a sub-standard surface. “Trying to sell the game in the States is great.. love it.. but for players to have to play on this sub-standard surface in New York is unacceptable… You work so hard to make it to the WC then have to play on this,” Vaughan posted.

On a pitch that had plenty of bounce and seam, Indian bowlers, led by Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh, bundled out Ireland for a paltry 96.

Batting coach Vikram Rathour was candid to admit that there are issues. "It is what it is. We need to find a way to deal with it. We are trying to control the controllables. It was a challenging wicket. We played a practice game here. So, we knew what to expect," he added.

The below-par scores in all matches played thus far on this strip – Sri Lanka managing just 77 runs against South Africa in its lowest ever T20 total, and Ireland packing off for 96 runs against India – none of the teams has been able to score or cross 100 runs on a wicket.

The pitch did not get enough practice matches on it and is largely untested which means team managements are first celebrating that batters have so far come off the field injury-free and that they are fit for the next game.

Just the other day India skipper Rohit Sharma said the team is excited to play cricket in America and promote cricket amongst the new audience.

The question now being raised is whether these kinds of restrictive conditions with teams not reaching 100s, can Cricket really be promoted in uncharted territory if the runs are not coming.

New York was cloudy all through the India-Ireland match and is under a constant drizzle the day after. Under such conditions, a strong-armed team like Pakistan would be virtually unplayable. But that's only half the concern. The major fear will be how to keep the batters safe from the bounce and carry of fire-fast deliveries from an Shaheen Afridi or a Haris Rauf which the surface has all the potential to help turn rogue.

Former India pacer Irfan Pathan told official broadcaster Star Sports that cricket promotion in America is fine "but this pitch is not safe for players. If we had a pitch like this in India, a match would never be played there again for a very long time".

As for Rathour, he was more circumspect. "I am sure it has been challenging for the curators or for ICC to create something here in the past six-seven months or whatever time they have taken. It was never going to be easy," Rathour said. He insisted that the only way out would be quick adaptability.

How far such a pitch will allow adaptability remains to be seen. Indeed, low-scoring matches, in what is being perceived as unsuitable conditions, are not a great advertisement for Cricket in a new market either.

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