ICC reveals details about venue and pitch for India, Pakistan match in New York

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The International Cricket Council (ICC) has disclosed specifics about the venue and pitch arrangements for the much-anticipated Pakistan-India encounter in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled for June 9 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.

A total of eight matches, including two involving Pakistan and India each, will take place in New York. The venue has received 10 pitches, with installation work underway since earlier this month.

Chris Tetley, head of events at the ICC, assured that the Nassau County ground meets international standards comfortably, resembling the size of the renowned Wankhede Stadium.

Tetley highlighted the world-class drainage facilities available at the venue, essential for ensuring uninterrupted play.

"Whenever a new stadium comes up, there are a lot of questions about the size. But the Nassau County ground is not a token-sized ground - it is 75 yards east west and 67 yards north south from the centre. It is similar to the size of Wankhede. The drainage facilities, too, will be world-class," Tetley said during an interaction.

The ICC's transformation of a municipal park into a cricket facility includes the utilization of drop-in pitches for the tournament. These pitches, supervised by Damian Hough, head curator of Adelaide Oval, were prepared in Florida and transported to New York.

"The pitches will have pace and bounce and the ball should come on to the bat, something that the players prefer. The idea is to produce good pitches that will stay good throughout the tournament and the players will enjoy playing on," Hough said.

However, concerns have been raised by Harbhajan Singh regarding the drop-in pitches for the Pakistan-India clash.

He expressed uncertainty about the nature of the pitches and emphasized the need for practice games to gauge their behavior before finalizing team strategies.

“Pitches there [Nassau Cricket Stadium] are known to none to be honest. Even the pitch curators might not know how many times will this pitch last. How much heat would be there how much water has been put in? How much bounce would it offer?,” Harbhajan said during a press conference organized by Star Sports

“Once those practice games are played there, then we will get to know how the pitch is acting. And then we can think about combinations. Prior knowing that, we can’t say about team combinations,” he added.

Temporary galleries, sourced from the Formula One track in Las Vegas, will accommodate spectators at the venue.