Cricket in New York! Sounds exciting and fancy no? The International Cricket Council (ICC) hoped that it would look and play out even fancier but it has been exactly the opposite given how the pitches have played so far at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. The surfaces have had spongy bounce, uneven rather with some balls staying low and some rising unexpectedly, which even hit the few batters and injured them or left them sore, the example being Harry Tector, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant in the India vs Ireland match in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
As per a BBC Sport report, the Indian team privately expressed their unhappiness with the ICC regarding the nature of the surface and the two-paced nature of it. However, the report stated that the ICC has decided not to move the matches out of New York despite the concerns regarding the surfaces.
In the two games so far, played on different strips, the teams batting first scored 77 and 96 in the two games. The report stated that the India vs Pakistan match will be played on an unused pitch, but it doesn't seem like it will be very different given all four decks are drop-in wickets. However, ICC officials haven't considered any plan of shifting the game to Texas or Florida, venues with natural pitches.
The way the ball swung and rose on various occasions during the India-Ireland match, there is a fear as to how the wicket will behave for India-Pakistan game, on which ICC's who tournament banks on.
There was an expectation of crowds at the venue in the busiest city in the States, of growing the game in the country but it has been opposite given the games that have taken place so far. Will it change in the coming games? They will have to, otherwise, quite a few questions will be raised regarding the scheduling and ICC's planning since the stadium was built just before the tournament.
