In spite of increasing worry about the condition of the decks at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York for the T20 World Cup, the ICC has no intention to relocate the remaining games to other grounds.
The drop-in pitches used for this tournament were untested before and heavily favored bowlers, drawing much criticism. South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for 77 runs while India bowled Ireland out for only 96 runs leading to safety concerns because of their unpredictable bounce and double paced nature of it.
According to a BBC report, Indian team is unhappy about the conditions on pitch which they considered unsafe for their batsmen. On Sunday, India will play Pakistan at the same venue in a highly anticipated Group A game.
There are claims that ICC is looking into previous matches data with a view of potential actions but no plans exist now to move any New York game down south to either Texas or Florida where natural grass pitches dominate. For instance, an additional pitch has been reserved for India–Pakistan match which can be adjusted depending on factors like weather conditions.
The T20 World Cup’s temporary setting in New York features ten imported Tahoma grass pitches straight from Australia. This was done several weeks prior to commencement of the event. The ICC had retired Australian curator Damien Hough called in as an expert on drop-in pitches from Adelaide Oval.
Moreover, Kentucky bluegrass grown in New Jersey atop sand makes up most of the outfield which has affected these pitches greatly. Balls during India-Ireland match were seen bouncing at shin height or sharply rising meaning some players including Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma getting injured. His elbow injury made Sharma retire hurt after scoring 52 runs
Furthermore, there have been also compromises resulting from slow outfield at this venue and boundary lengths being uneven by meters apart depending on whether one side or another it is: since each side differs by 10 meters, it is hard enough.
Those concerns stretch over to the six drop-in pitches at Cantiague Park practice facility nearby. The South African batters preferred throw downs to facing bowlers in the nets because of fear for their safety.