Rahul Dravid, the India head coach, called the T20 World Cup 2024 Facilities in New York, USA a bit strange. The facilities provided to top teams in the USA, especially New York, have been severely criticised.
The ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024 has come under fire for its use of drop-in pitches in the United States, with players and cricket experts characterizing them as poor.
Amid the issue surrounding drop-in pitches in the United States, Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid expressed discontent with the practice facilities provided for the T20 World Cup 2024 in New York.
During a media encounter, Dravid chastised the ICC and the USA Cricket Board for not providing traditional cricket stadiums for participating teams to train for the world competition. Teams playing in New York have had to train at Cantiague Park, about five miles away from the ground, a situation that did not amuse Dravid.
“It’s a bit strange to be practising in a park. Obviously, at the World Cups, you’d be in big stadiums or you’d be at cricket stadiums traditionally. But you know, we’re at a public park and practicing,” Dravid said.
Suddenly, the facilities in New York, which will host eight of the United States’ sixteen World Cup games, have come into focus. The International Cricket Council (ICC) created a temporary stadium, and on Monday, Sri Lanka was bowled out for 77 against South Africa, who laboured before hitting the target.
Rahul Dravid speaks on the buzz from the crowd missing in USA stadium, hopes India playing will bring energy to the ground
Dravid, meanwhile, did not miss the absence of buzz around New York, where India will play three games, and hoped the situation would improve once the games start.
“Yeah, obviously it’s slightly different. It’s obviously exciting that it’s coming to a new country, it’s coming to a new place. (It) feels slightly different in terms of, I guess, typically the buzz that you have around these events, with cricket not being one of the major sports in this country.
“So you don’t feel that kind of buzz over here. But hopefully, once our games start and a lot of the Indian fans do start coming in, you start seeing that similar kind of excitement.
So things are certainly different from that perspective. But yeah, I think from a preparation perspective and from what we want to get out of it, I don’t think that’s changed, our preparation, our professionalism, the way we are trying to approach things. It’s pretty, pretty similar to what we would normally do,” he said.
India will play Ireland, Pakistan, and USA at the Nassau County Cricket Ground and take on Canada in Fort Lauderhill Florida.
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