India vs. Pakistan pitch report: Records, average scores and pitch behaviour for Nassau County stadium in T20 Cricket World Cup

Author Photo
Nassau County Stadium New York
(Getty)

The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York has been the center of attention for all the wrong reasons in recent days. The 2024 ICC T20 World Cup stadium which will be hosting the massive clash between India and Pakistan on Sunday has been under heavy criticism for its quality. 

The $30 million pitch was constructed in a span of eight months with special soil transported from the Adelaide Oval stadium in Australia for the tournament. Despite the efforts, the pitch has failed to live up to the standards and has been under fire from the critics for its inconsistent bounce and a very slow outfield. 

Many experienced players and coaches have been critical about the playing conditions of the pitch. The ICC in recent days though has revealed that they have been trying hard to fix the problem. The uneven bounce on the pitch was being caused due the grassy veins, which has been pushed down by rolling the wicket. 

It hopefully will be up to the mark for the marquee clash between India and Pakistan on Sunday.

READ MORE: Injury scare for Rohit Sharma ahead of India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup match

How many T20I games has Nassau County Stadium hosted?

The Nassau County International Stadium has hosted 4 T20I games so far, with all of those being the 2024 T20 World Cup matches.

Average score at the Nassau County Stadium 

The average first innings score at the venue in the three games played so far is 103 runs. The below par score implies that the team bowling first will have an advantage over the team that will bowl in the second innings. 

The highest first-innings score at the stadium has been 137, posted by Canada against Ireland. And that score proved to be enough for the minnows to win the game.

READ MORE: Has BCCI filed a complaint with ICC over NY pitch ahead of India vs Pakistan clash?

Pitch behaviour at the Nassau County Stadium

The pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium has been a pitch with very uneven bounce, any pace bowler hitting the surface hard could benefit from the outcome, causing problems for the opposition batter. 

READ MORE: Can Pakistan reach Super 8 after the loss against USA?

To make matters worse for the batting team, the outfield at the venue is very slow and sluggish. The ball suffers great difficulty in reaching the boundary line, which in turn creates problems for batters to score runs consistently. 

Which pitch will be used for India vs Pakistan match?

There are four pitches at Nassau County stadium. The one that will be used for the India vs Pakistan match will be the same wicket that was used during Saturday's game between South Africa and Netherlands.

The match was again a nightmare for batsmen with spongy bounce and inconsistent movement making it hard for batsmen to get going and play shots freely. Netherlands could only score 103 after batting first, never managing to get going. South Africans also struggled, requiring almost 19 overs to get to the total. In fact, they were in trouble at 12/4 at one point.

The India vs Pakistan pitch is not likely to be an easy one to bat on.

 
Author(s)
Rahul Chalke Photo

Rahul is a content producer for The Sporting News’ India edition.