“I don’t know what to expect from the pitch, to be honest,” Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. India steamrolled Ireland by 8 wickets, but for the Blues, there were more questions than were left unanswered in the middle. The biggest one was the up-and-down nature of the pitch. Up next is an India vs Pakistan encounter at the same venue.
Rohit wasn’t the only one, who was left confused by the way the pitch behaved throughout the game. Mind you, the Hitman was the only batter to cross a half-century in the entire match.
Also Read: India vs Pakistan – How to get to the Nassau County Stadium?
Maybe Rohit, echoed the sentiment of every Indian cricket fan, and to an extent Pakistan cricket fan too. An India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup match is arguably the biggest game of the entire tournament. The pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York has been the talking point for the pundits, players and media, for all the wrong reasons.
The last two competitive T20Is played at the venue have yielded a mere 350 runs, at the expense of 26 wickets. No side, while batting first has managed to breach the 100-run-mark so far.
Nassau County Pitch in Numbers
| Total Matches | Highest Team Total | Highest Individual Score (Batter) | Best Bowling Figure | Pacers | Spinners |
| 02 | 97/2 (India vs Ireland) | 52* Rohit Sharma vs Ireland | 04/07 Anrich Nortje vs Sri Lanka | 18 wickets | 05 wickets |
The bowlers, especially pacers with 18 wickets from two matches are not complaining one bit. South Africa’s Anrich Nortje and India’s Jasprit Bumrah have emerged as the player of the match for their respective sides. So, where do these numbers stand with context to the high-profile India vs Pakistan billing?
India vs Pakistan: Expect Batters to struggle, bowlers to shine
The way things have panned out so far, and with the conditions likely to stay overcast, expect the India vs Pakistan contest to be a low-scoring one. Both the teams have excellent fast bowlers in their lineup – Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi, Md. Siraj, and Haris Rauf to name a few.
Unless the batters play out of their skins, either team batting first will struggle to put a score over 135 or more. The wicket is a challenging one, with some deliveries staying very low, while others jump off the wicket, making life troublesome for the batters.
A lot of this has to do with the drop-in pitch used at the Nassau County Cricket Stadium. The drop-in pitch made in Australia, was flown all over to New York City, right before the start of the tournament. Experts have already started criticizing the drop-in pitches, which are not conducive for T20 cricket, especially during the World Cups.
Voice of Indian cricket Harsha Bhogle cannot imagine a big name of India vs Pakistan magnitude taking place on drop-in pitches like the one at Nassau County Stadium.
India vs Pakistan Match Tickets: Cricket Fans’ In For a Shocker?
Earlier, it was reported that the cost of one ticket for India vs Pakistan is costing the fans close to Rs 8.4 Lakh or even more. In case you are an overseas traveller, then one must include the travel cost, and other expenses too. So, to watch the contest on June 9th, fans are already spending a fortune.
What looks like a low-scoring match already is spending close to Rs 9 Lakh just for a ticket, justifiable by any stretch of the imagination? The ICC’s major blunder is going to cost India and Pakistan cricket fans millions of dollars, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Don’t be surprised, if the much-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan, scheduled on June 9th, ends up being a disappointment. The ICC has made all the preparations to ensure that this marquee match, turns out to be a one-sided affair.
Team India Squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube
Pakistan Squad:
Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
