During the T20 World Cup currently taking place, there have been concerns about the condition of Nassau County ground’s track with ICC admitting on Thursday that the pitches played on so far were not as consistent as we would have wanted. It is referred to as “bordering on dangerous with huge open cracks.”
Further fuss was caused by India’s eight-wicket win over Ireland in a low-scoring game where Ireland were shot out for 96 runs in 16 overs only.
India’s captain, Rohit Sharma had scored a half-century before being hit on his right bicep by pacer Josh Little which made him retire hurt during a successful chase. The ball suddenly jumped from length to deceive him on pitch that offered substantial amount of uneven bounce. Rishabh Pant also sustained a blow on his left elbow while making unbeaten 36.
In addition to injury scares, the drop-in surface specifically brought from Adelaide for this year’s World Cup has cast doubts over its nature. This stadium will host two more matches featuring India.
Many former cricketers including Irfan Pathan, Michael Vaughan and Sanjay Manjrekar have expressed their disapproval of tracks like this for T20 cricket especially given that it is cricket’s entry into the untapped American market.
According to an ICC statement: “T20 Inc and the ICC recognise that the pitches used so far at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium have not played as consistently as we would have all wanted.”
It then added: “The world-class grounds team have been working hard since the conclusion of yesterday’s game to remedy the situation and deliver the best possible surfaces for the remaining matches.”
Rohit is expected to recover before Sunday’s eagerly anticipated Pakistan clash.
On condition of being anonymous, a senior BCCI source told PTI “Rohit’s injury isn’t serious. He himself said that it’s a bit sore. He should be okay for Pakistan game (on Sunday) as of now. There are two practice sessions before that.”
Pathan, who played a major role in India’s successful 2007 T20 World Cup campaign, was not impressed by the pitch and called it unsafe.
“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.
“This pitch is definitely not good. I mean, we are talking about the World Cup here, not even a bilateral series,” he added.
Former England captain Vaughan was also unimpressed with the 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,” he wrote on his X handle.
Rohit remarked that “I don’t know what that wicket will do” when asked whether the toss would matter in their match against Pakistan. The team batting coach Vikram Rathour had a milder view of it as well.
In the post-match press conference, Rathour said “It is a difficult wicket for batting but this is what we have. We need to find ways of dealing with that.” And he placed the responsibility on his team to find ways to score.
The Indian team management is unlikely to file any official complaint. However, it is apparent that they are dissatisfied with the track’s nature; some describe it as unfit for T20 cricket and dangerous.
“It’s actually a very fresh pitch. There is a grass cover but there are also big cracks in it. So, it will seam but also take off from length. Now when you have a fresh track like this, you first try out few games like you do with beta testing of new app,” the source explained.
“Then you release it in the market. It is not a T20 wicket and all four tracks look the same,” added another source who saw the match and visited the venue during its aftermath.
Although such pitches require time before they can become suitable for batting, using rollers might help smoothen out cracks found in its surface.
However, even Arshdeep Singh’s most ardent admirers couldn’t have predicted that his deliveries would soar like surface to air missiles or even fly away in such a manner from him.
“One should be glad that nothing serious happened to Rohit and Rishabh (Pant). They are fine,” added another source.
Jasprit Bumrah delivered a terrifying delivery to Ireland’s Harry Tector during one of their matches. The ball hit Tector’s gloves before hitting directly on his helmet as Virat Kohli managed to hold onto it As per protocol, Tector was required to undergo a mandatory concussion assessment following the incident.
The ICC lays down well-defined regulations regarding standards of pitches used in tournaments whereby only after an event does evaluation process come into play if any pitch falls below these standards which will lead to a reduction in its overall rating.
Andy Flower, who is the former captain of Zimbabwe and a highly respected coach, was among those criticizing the pitch conditions.
“I have got to say that is not a good surface to play an international match on. It’s bordering on dangerous,” said Flower on ‘ESPNcricinfo’s Timeout’ show.
Sanjay Manjrekar, ex-Indian batter believes the pitch is under-prepared. “You have seen dangerous pitches before as well at the international level but something has gone wrong with the preparation where either the pitch has been under-prepared or something that is beyond their control,” Manjrekar said.
