'I think there is some work for ICC to do' - Sanjay Manjrekar critiques New York pitch for T20 World Cup

Sanjay Manjrekar suggested that the drop-in pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York should be rolled enough to make it as 'firm' as possible. He also expressed his concerns with the slowness of the outfield.

The stadium hosted its first T20I on Monday, June 3, as South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in a low-scoring encounter. The drop-in pitch, brought in from Australia, was spongy and yielded variable bounce. Batters faced all sorts of difficulties in rotating strike and boundaries were few and far between. The Lankan Lions were bowled out for 77 in 19.1 overs, before the Proteas took 16.2 overs to chase the paltry target. Moreover, the outfield was alarmingly slow, and it made life even more difficult for the batters.

The pitch and outfield were criticised by several experts and fans. While Manjrekar appreciated the efforts of the concerned authorities to build an “international standard” venue for the marquee event, he urged the ICC to make attempts to improve the quality of the pitch.

Also Read: 'Not ideal for T20 cricket' - Irfan Pathan on New York pitch after low-scoring Sri Lanka vs South Africa encounter

“I see a problem here for the ICC because how are you going to change the pitch? It is not like it is underprepared. They have put in a lot of effort to make it international standard, a good fair T20 pitch. Maybe they could just keep rolling that pitch down and down and try and get it as firm as possible,” Manjkrekar said while speaking to ESPNcricinfo.

“Outfield is another concern. It was amazing that David Miller hit that ground shot for four. So, instead of four, if you are just getting one or two, that's going to get the score down. The pitch has its trickery. So, it's going to be tough. I don't see that changing dramatically. Maybe the pitch will get a little better. But the outfield is going to be a problem. It is a very, very slow outfield. And you can see every time the ball pitches into the outfield, the sand sort of bursts through. So there's a lot of sand base there. So yeah, I think there is some work for the ICC to do,” the cricketer-turned-commentator concluded.

Also Read: 'It is a bit soft, the guys could feel that on the hamstring and the calves' - Rahul Dravid assesses Nassau County Cricket Stadium facilities

The Sri Lanka versus South Africa encounter was the first of the eight matches that the venue will host in the T20 World Cup 2024. India are playing three out of their four Group A matches at this venue. The next match in New York is on Wednesday, June 5, featuring India and Ireland.