Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan has criticised the New York pitch after India’s win over Ireland in their first game of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024. India and Ireland opened their campaign in the ongoing ninth edition of the T20 World Cup by locking horns against each other at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday (June 5). However, more than the game, the pitch has become the main talking point. For the second game in a row, the team batting second at the venue failed to touch the 100-run mark. Earlier in the tournament, South Africa had bowled out Sri Lanka for a paltry total of 77 runs in the New York-based venue. South Africa struggle with the bat as well although they eventually managed to chase down the modest total in the 17th over by losing four wickets.

Things were not very different during the ICC T20 World Cup  game between India and Ireland as well. Ireland, who recently defeated Pakistan in a T20I game, struggled to get going with the bat after Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first. Arshdeep Singh gave India a strong start with the bat by dismissing both the Ireland openers in the third over.

From that position, Ireland failed to recover and found themselves reeling at 50 for 8 at one stage. Gareth Delaney then came up with a 26-run cameo to take his team close to the 100-run mark. In reply, India were off to a poor start as well. After Rohit Sharma was dropped in the very first over, Virat Kohli departed for just 1.

The two-paced pitch also made it tough for the batters to read the line and length of the ball. Both Rohit and Rishabh Pant copped blows while batting and the former had to retire hurt as well after scoring 53 runs after scoring 52. Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed cheaply as well before Pant and Shivam Dube took India home in the 13th over.

With the pitch in New York witnessing a second low-scoring game in a row, the fans and experts have been busy criticising it. Many have already called it unfit for a tournament like the World Cup and Irfan Pathan has expressed his disappointment as well. 

Speaking on Star Sports, the former cricketer stated that the venue would have faced a severe repercussion if it was in India as he called the Nassau County pitch unsafe for the players. He also said that the pitch is ‘definitely not good’ for the World Cup.

“Look, we definitely want to promote cricket in America, but this pitch is not safe for players. If we had a pitch like this in India, a match would never be played there again for a very long time,” he said on Star Sports.

“This pitch is definitely not good. I mean, we are talking about the World Cup here, not even a bilateral series,” added Pathan.

Apart from Pathan, the likes of Michael Vaughan and Andy Flower have criticised the pitch as well. For those who don’t known, the pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium is a drop-in surface. In fact, the entire stadium is temporary and was established only for the World Cup.

The drop-in pitches were prepared in Adelaide and were shipped to Florida before being laid in New York for the T20 World Cup. It usually takes time for such drop-in surfaces to settle down and it looks the pitch in New York is yet to get settled. As a result, the upcoming games could be low-scoring affairs as well.

India look to extend winning start:

After the big win in the first game, Team India will be looking to extend their winning start by winning their second game as well. The Men in Blue are set to lock horns against arch-rivals Pakistan in their second game. The highly-awaited match is scheduled to be played at the same venue on Sunday (June 9).

Unlike India, Pakistan are yet to open their campaign in the T20 World Cup and will play their first game on Thursday (June 6) against co-hosts USA. The upcoming game between India and Pakistan will be the first meeting between them this year. 

They last faced each other in the ODI World Cup last year when India registered a thumping 7-wicket win. India have the upper hand over Pakistan in the World Cup games and will be looking to make the most of it. Both the teams have not won the T20 World Cup for more than a decade now and will be desperate to end their long wait this year.

India have not won the T20 World Cup since winning the inaugural edition in 2007. On the other hand, Pakistan’s last victory in the competition came way back in 2009. In the last edition, Pakistan had finished runners-up while India had exited at the semifinal stage.

Talking about Ireland, they will be in action next on June 7 against Canada. Two of the five teams from each group will be qualifying for the Super 8s stage. Ireland are not the favourites to progress to the next stage but do have the ability to spring a surprise. For that to happen, they will have to beat Canada in their next game at any cost.

For more updates and cricket news on the ICC T20 World Cup, you can visit Cricket Addictor.