Rohit Sharma talked about the unpredictable nature of the drop-in pitches at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. This was during the pre-match press conference before the high-voltage India vs Pakistan match at the venue on June 9, 2024.
The India v Ireland match on June 5 saw bounce and pace on the drop-in pitch in New York which saw India bundling Irish out for 96 runs and then winning by 8 wickets. However, during India’s innings, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant were hit on their bodies, while an Irish batter was pinged on his helmet by Jasprit Bumrah.
The International Cricket Council announced on Thursday that the pitches used in the T20 World Cup match in New York did not meet the required standards. The cricket board told the ground personnel that they are trying to improve for the tournament’s remaining matches.
“… the pitches used so far at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium have not played as consistently as we would have all wanted. The world-class grounds team have been working hard since the conclusion of yesterday’s game to remedy the situation,” the ICC said.
“New York is not our home ground” – Rohit Sharma on advantage India against Pakistan
Rohit also spoke about how he doesn’t want India to rely on just Virat Kohli and revealed the moment he decided Rishabh Pant would be batting in the top order.
“New York is not our home ground. We have played two matches here but we don’t have much awareness about its nature. It behaves differently on different days, so even the curator is confused. So, you can imagine the kind of thinking we need to put in. We don’t know on which pitch we are playing (against Pakistan), so whoever plays better cricket will win the match,” Rohit said during the pre-match media interaction.
With Rohit and Kohli as openers, India used Pant at number three in their first game. Pant played the same role in the warm-up game against Bangladesh, and Rohit discussed the function of the wicketkeeper-batsman.
“I watched Pant play the first few matches in the IPL and made up my mind. It was about having the right batting position. His counter-attacking skill will be helpful, given we cannot play Yashasvi [Jaiswal]. He has got an all-round game. Besides the openers, none of the other batting positions are fixed, unless it is a Super Over. We want to be flexible,” Rohit said.
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