T20 World Cup: Former BCCI curator slams poor drop-in pitches in New York

Former BCCI curator has slammed the poor drop-in pitches in New York being used for the T20 World Cup matches.

Former BCCI curator has taken a dig at the last-moment installation of the drop-in pitches for T20 World Cup. (Photo: X)

New Delhi: Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief curator Daljit Singh has criticised the poor quality of the drop-in pitches being used in New York for the T20 World Cup 2024 matches. Daljit, who has been an ex-curator with the Indian cricket board for over two decades, said that these drop-in pitches should have been prepared at least two to three months before the event and not at the last moment.

Meanwhile, India play their first three matches in New York, including the much-awaited India vs Pakistan fierce battle on June 9. In their first game against Ireland on June 5, a lot of unexpected bounce and cracks were witnessed which raised the eyebrows of many cricket fans and the critics as well. Skipper of Indian team Rohit Sharma was forced to leave the field after being hit by a Josh Little ball that took off from length, raising concerns about the safety of the players.

Pitches should have been prepared in advance

“It is a poor pitch. 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,” Daljit, who worked with the BCCI for more than two decades, said. “It seems they just installed it without doing any of that, poor quality and preparation I would say,” he added.

The ICC had transported 10 made-in-Australia drop-in pitches to New York in the first week of May. All 10 wickets, four for the main square and six practice wickets, have been prepared by Adelaide Oval curator Damian Hough.

“Installation of the pitches should have been done three months ago. The they had to increase the density with heavy rolling, light rolling, cross rolling and diagonal rolling. Then take a break for a few days and then repeat the same for increasing the density. it doesn’t look good. There is uneven bounce, this is not an ideal pitch for T20s,” said Daljit.