T20 World Cup: Near after India-Ireland duel, pitch in New York receives criticism from fans, experts

The ICC is slammed by ex-players and fans after New York serves up another damp squib of a sub-par-scoring match marred by an injury to India captain Rohit Sharma.

Fans and experts have called for the organisers to move the remaining fixtures to another venue, and now the International Cricket Council (ICC) has faced the criticism for the pitch at its Twenty20 World Cup stadium in New York.

In the second game at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, India took on Ireland, in what was another low scoring encounter where batters found it difficult to clear the sizeable boundaries that is usually a regularity in T20 format.

The Irish batters failed to find gaps and hit boundaries, surviving just 16 overs and 96 runs before India bundled them out, with their pace bowlers taking eight wickets at economy rates rarely seen at this level. In Ireland only three sixes and eight boundaries (fours) were hit in the entire innings.

In response, India also started cautiously and lost their premier batsman Virat Kohli in the third over. Skipper Rohit Sharma top-scored with 52 before retiring hurt after a blow to his arm. Rohit’s arm was “a little sore,” he said in a later media interaction UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

“New ground, new venue and [we] wanted to see what’s it like to play on [it],” he said afterwards.

I still don’t think the pitch calmed down, and there was enough for the bowlers.

The pitch did not find a supporter in their premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah. “Being from India, when you come to a place like this and you see the ball doing a bit of- when the ball is seaming, I would not never say no to that.

But angry fans and former players alike took to social media to voice their disappointment with the pitch.

Micky Arthur, the former coach of Australia, Pakistan and South Africa, declared the pitch “very poor” in a post on X.

Ex-captain of England, Michael Vaughan — “That’s shocking…”

Vaughan added in his post: “Unsavoury that the players have to play on this (sic) sub standard concrete court in NY…. #Unacceptable.”

Modi: India – Pakistan Match, We Don’t Know What To Expect

With eight matches scheduled to be held at New York – the most among three venues in the United States – fans requested the ICC to “carefully review the pitch” ahead of the rest of the fixtures.

The American Airlines Center in Dallas was suggested as a venue for the fixtures by some fans: the venue is the oldest cricket venue in the US and has seen a high-scoring match.

There is expected to be a sell-out crowd in New York for what will surely be one of the biggest group-stage games of the tournament when India plays Pakistan on Sunday.

The ICC has not responded to the criticism, but a new pitch is expected to be used in Sunday’s game.

Left as a cricket commentator and analyst, Vaughan says the South Asian rivals “will not enjoy that type of surface” when they face off in the marquee clash.

“Bordering on dangerous,” said Andy Flower, former Zimbabwe captain and former England coach, in his post-match comments on ESPNCricinfo.

Rohit, India’s skipper, said after the game against Pakistan on Wednesday: “I don’t know [and] what to expect from the surface and that’s [what] we will try and prepare ourselves [for].”

India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour shared Kohli’s sentiments, suggesting their star-studded batting line up would have to dig deep, rely on their experience to make amends on a tricky surface.

We were practising well, it was a challenging wicket, we played a practice game here. So we kind of knew what to expect,” Rathour told reporters post the game.

“It is what it is. We will have to learn to handle that and I believe we have the skills and enough experience in the team to manage it. We should be fine.

We have plenty of good batters who can perform on any surface I believe this has been our advantage for years and years. We just have to adjust and adapt very easily to different conditions, I feel.

Ireland face Canada on June 7 for their second match at the same venue in New York before the marquee clash between India and Pakistan.