(source- Thehindu)
Ex-cricketers from various countries expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Nassau County Stadium pitch in New York, where the T20 World Cup match between India and Ireland took place.
The criticism of the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium pitch in New York intensified significantly following the T20 World Cup match between India and Ireland. Concerns had already surfaced after Sri Lanka’s low score of 77 and South Africa’s struggle to chase it down in the venue’s international debut, which took 18.2 overs. These concerns escalated into widespread condemnation after Ireland’s dismissal for 96, with players from both teams enduring physical blows during the match on Wednesday.
Ireland’s batsman Harry Tector and India’s captain Rohit Sharma, along with wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, faced blows during the match. Rohit had to leave the field due to injury after being hit on his right biceps. He noted that the pitch maintained excessive seam movement throughout the game, failing to ease as expected.
Beyond the movement off the pitch, another significant worry emerged as batters found it exceedingly challenging to establish their rhythm due to the unpredictable bounce. Certain deliveries rose awkwardly from a good length, while others skidded low, even below knee height. This erratic behavior made it tough for even the most skilled batters to anticipate the pace of the ball off the pitch.
“(We are) trying to control the controllable. It was a challenging wicket, and we were expecting a challenging wicket because we played a practice game here, so we knew what to expect,” said India batting coach Vikram Rathour in the post-match press conference. “We need to find a way to deal with it and we have enough skills in the team and enough experience in the team to deal with it. We should be fine,” the former India opener said.
Ireland’s coach, Heinrich Malan, didn’t mince his words. “In T20 cricket, spectators expect to witness runs and boundaries, don’t they? So, whether it’s a pitch suitable for a 96-run total, you can judge for yourself. Regardless, it’s essential to execute our game plan effectively, whether we bat or bowl first. With a quick turnaround before Friday’s match, we’ll review our approach and strive to improve,” he remarked.
If such a pitch was in India, the venue would not have got more matches
Irfan Pathan, the Player of the Match in the 2007 T20 World Cup final for India, joined the chorus of criticism regarding the pitch.
“Look, we definitely want to promote cricket in America, 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,” he said on Star Sports.
He added, “This pitch is definitely not good. I mean, we are talking about the World Cup here, not even a bilateral series.”
“I’ve got to say that is not a good surface to play an international match on. It’s bordering on dangerous,” Flower said on ESPNCricinfo.
“You saw the ball bouncing from a length both ways, so skidding low occasionally but in the main bouncing unusually high and striking people on the thumb, on the gloves, on the helmet and making life very, very difficult for any batsman.”
“The Indian quicks were good enough to exploit it, you’ve got to give that to them. They kept their game plan really simple, they hit the deck hard on a good length and that was all you needed to do,” he said. “It proved very, very tricky batting conditions for any side, let alone a smaller cricketing nation like Ireland taking on the giants of India”.
Mohammad Kaif, a former Indian cricketer, remarked, “Kudos to Rohit Sharma for his half-century. The pitch in New York is arguably the toughest in the world. This doesn’t bode well for promoting cricket in the US.” The same venue is slated to host the highly anticipated India vs Pakistan match on Sunday.
