India miffed with ‘semi-dangerous’ New York pitch after Rohit, Pant injured; chatter around official complaint: Report

The Indian team management is reportedly unhappy with the pitches at the Nassau County Cricket Stadium in New York. Due to the unpredictable bounce on the pitch, players from both India and Ireland suffered multiple injury scares during the T20 World Cup Group A match on Wednesday. India captain Rohit Sharma was hit flush on the right bicep by a delivery from Ireland bowler Josh Little, which suddenly took off from length. Although he hit a couple of sixes after that to reach his half-century but the pain increased, and he had to retire hurt at the halfway stage of India’s chase.

Moments after that, Little hit Rishabh Pant on the left elbow. He needed medical attention before carrying on with this innings. “Rohit’s injury isn’t serious. He himself said that it was a bit sore. He should be okay for Pakistan game as of now. There are two practice sessions before that,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

The Indian team management is unlikely to file any official complaint about the nature of the track but the displeasure is clear about the nature of the virgin track, which according to some who saw, is “semi-dangerous” and “unfit for T20 cricket.”

“It is actually a very fresh pitch. There is a fair grass cover but along with it are big cracks. So it will seam but also take off from length. Now, when you have a fresh track like this, you first try out a few games like you do beta testing with a new app. Then you release it in the market. It is not a T20 wicket and all four tracks look same,” someone closely associated with the Indian team told PTI after a first-hand look at the track after the match.

A bit more roller use might even out cracks, but these kinds of tracks take time to settle down.

While Indian pacers literally toyed with a very competent T20 outfit like Ireland, even the biggest fan of Arshdeep Singh wouldn’t have imagined that his deliveries would take off like surface-to-air missiles.

“One should be glad that nothing serious happened to Rohit and Rishabh (Pant). They are fine,” the source added.

However Ireland’s Harry Tector had to undergo mandatory concussion test as a nasty snorter from Jasprit Bumrah first hit his gloves and then flush on the helmet before Virat Kohli completed the catch.

India batting coach plays down pitch controversy

This was only the second international match in the venue. In the first match, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 77 while South Africa took 18.2 overs to chase that down as batters from both sides found it hard to adjust to the pace and bounce of the match.

When India batting coach Vikram Rathour was asked about the pitch, he played it down. “It is a challenging wicket as far as batting is concerned but this is what we have so we need to find ways to deal with it. Like I said earlier, we have enough skills and experience in the batting group especially to deal with that. We have enough good batters who can manage to bat well on any kind of surface. I think that has been our strength for many, many years. I think we can adapt really well to different conditions, and I think on this surface you really need to adapt well and take it head-on and not worry about it too much and you’re right – we have everybody fit, and they’re all looking good. They’re all batting well, so yeah, it’s a good space to be as a batting coach,” he said after India’s eight-wicket win.

(With PTI inputs)