The International Cricket Council (ICC) will closely monitor the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium pitches ahead of the India-Pakistan game. Efforts will be put in to ensure the surfaces play better.
“Pitch monitoring process will apply,” a top ICC functionary told RevSportz. This came on the heels of India’s win against Ireland on Wednesday. Pitch No. 4 was used for the game and Ireland were bowled out for 96 in 16 overs, failing to cope with the up-and-down nature of the surface and exaggerated lateral movement. A couple of days ago, on Pitch No. 1, Sri Lanka were bundled out for 77 against South Africa.
Indian batsmen, too, faced problems on the pitch, with Rishabh Pant taking a knock on the left elbow, when a length ball from Josh Little rose awkwardly. The pitch faced universal condemnation, with Andy Flower, the former Zimbabwe captain and the current Royal Challengers Bengaluru head coach, terming it as “bordering on dangerous”.
“I have got to say that is not a good surface to play an international match,” Flower said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut. “It’s bordering on dangerous. We saw the ball bouncing from a length both ways. 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 difficult for any batsman.”
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Rohit Sharma also spoke about the pitch after the game. “I don’t think the pitch settled down, there was enough there for the bowlers,” the India captain said at the post-match presentation.
He spoke about the Pakistan game as well, and the uncertainty over the pitch. “I don’t know what to expect from the pitch, but we will prepare as if conditions are going to be like that,” he said. “That is a game where all eleven of us need to come together and contribute.”
Ireland didn’t have a tearaway quick in their ranks, but both India and Pakistan have fast bowlers who can clock in excess of 140kph. Yet again, India are expected to go with a four-pronged pace attack comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya. Pakistan’s response would be Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir and Haris Rauf. That is serious pace on offer.
Drop-in pitches are being used in New York, and the decks at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium have their biological parent in Adelaide, Australia. It is not known if anything went wrong at the time of preparation of the pitches, but if ‘surface tension’ mars the showpiece India-Pakistan game, causing injuries to the players, that will be a poor advertisement for a cricket World Cup in the United States. The ICC, in such a scenario, would have a lot to answer for.
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