New York pitch at T20 World Cup: India reportedly unhappy with pitches but decide against official complaint

Team India are reportedly unhappy with the undercooked pitches at the Nassau County Cricket Stadium in New York but has decided against lodging an official complaint. During India’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign opener against Ireland, multiple players suffered an injury scare due to the uneven bounce in a makeshift stadium that was set up months before the T20 World Cup.

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The drop-in pitches at the New York stadium were prepared in Adelaide before being shipped to Florida and finally being laid at Nassau County Cricket Stadium.

However, it seems like the pitches have still not settled down.

During India’s game, captain Rohit Sharma was struck on his right biceps by pacer Josh Little and while the opener continued batting and got to his fifty, he was later forced to retire hurt.

Rishabh Pant was also hit on the left elbow but was okay after receiving some medical attention.

The news agency PTI has now reported that Team India management is unhappy with pitches made available in New York for a World Cup as it poses a danger to the players. They, however, have decided against making a formal complaint.

“Rohit’s injury isn’t serious. He himself said that it’s a bit sore. He should be okay for Pakistan game as of now. There are two practice sessions before that,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.

“It is actually a very fresh pitch. There is a fair grass cover but along with it are big cracks. So it will seam but also take off from length. Now when you have a fresh track like this, you first try out a few games like you do beta testing with a new app. Then you release it in the market. It is not a T20 wicket and all four tracks look same.”

While India have decided against making a complaint they are worried about the injuries that can take place.

“One should be glad that nothing serious happened to Rohit and Rishabh (Pant). They are fine,” the source added.

Meanwhile, India batting coach Vikram Rathour said that the team can deal with the “challenging” wicket.

“It is a challenging wicket as far as batting is concerned but this is what we have so we need to find ways to deal with it. As I said earlier, we have enough skills and experience in the batting group especially to deal with that.