World Cup 2024: Harbhajan Singh expresses concern on 'drop-in' pitches for Pak vs India clash

As many as 10 pitches being installed in New York stadiums for World Cup 2024 matches

By Sports Desk

May 15, 2024

Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh and an overhead view of Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. — ICC/File

As the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2024 draws near, former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh expressed concerns regarding the "drop-in pitches" for Pakistan vs India clash in New York.

The most anticipated match in the cricket world will be played at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 9.

A total of eight World Cup matches will be played in New York, including two of Pakistan and India each. As many as 10 pitches arrived in New York and the work of installation commenced earlier this month.

However, Harbhajan slammed the decision saying that no one has any idea how those pitches are going to behave. He said that even the pitch curators might struggle to anticipate its behaviour.

The Indian great, who was part of the Blues’ squad that won the 2007 T20 World Cup, emphasised the importance of warm-up matches as only then one would be able to see the behaviour of these pitches.

“Pitches there [Nassau Cricket Stadium] are known to none to be honest. Even the pitch curators might not know how many times will this pitch last. How much heat would be there how much water has been put in? How much bounce would it offer?” Harbhajan said during a press conference organised by Star Sports.

“Once those practice games are played there, then we will get to know how the pitch is acting. And then we can think about combinations. Prior knowing that, we can’t say about team combinations.”

Remember, the construction works at the stadium are underway as the venue in New York will host eight matches in the World Cup, the first one will be between the 2014 T20 World Cup winners Sri Lanka and South Africa. More than 34,000 fans would be able to sit inside the stadium.