The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 is underway in the USA and West Indies, however, the drop in pitches used for the 20-over spectacle in the North American nation has courted criticism and concerns early in the tournament due to their quality and nature.
BCCI’s former chief curator Daljit Singh expressed his displeasure over the playing tracks after India opened their tournament with an 8-wicket win over Ireland at the Nassau County Cricket Stadium in New York on Wednesday.
The track was noted for its slow and unpredictable nature, with skipper Rohit Sharma, who made a match-winning fifty, retiring hurt after behind hit on the forearm off a Joshua Little delivery, that bounced off from length.
Singh called the pitches being used for the extravaganza poor and suggested that multiple rollers should have been used in the preparation of the same.
“It is a poor pitch,” Singh began.
“Drop-in pitch needs to be installed well in advance. To create density, you need to play on it and use different rollers and then increase the density,” he added.
“It seems they just installed it without doing any of that, poor quality and preparation I would say,” he asserted.
He opined that ample time should have been given for the pitches to be prepared and that the tracks should have been installed at least three months prior to the event.
“Installation of the pitches should have been done three months ago. Then they had to increase the density with heavy rolling, light rolling, cross rolling and diagonal rolling,” Singh continued.
He elaborated on the meticulous process that had to be followed for the installation of the pitches citing time, play and rolling as the crucial factors.
“Then take a break for a few days and then repeat the same for increasing the density,” he explained.
“It doesn’t look good. There is uneven bounce, this is not an ideal pitch for T20s,” he reiterated.
“More time should have been given to mature the pitch. It is not mature enough for the World Cup,” the former first-class cricketer and curator said.
The Nassau County Stadium is also set to host the Indo-Pak marquee clash on the 9th of the month, and Singh expressed his disgruntlement over the pitch that is slated to organise the high-profile sporting event.
“I don’t how it will play there, India-Pakistan is a big game. I am certainly not okay with what I have seen so far,” Singh said.
“The outfield seems to be okay but the pitch is where the main problem is,” he signed off.
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