Nassau County International Cricket Stadium: How the pitch behaved during India’s warm-up against Bangladesh?

India began their tour of the United States and the Caribbean in style with a
commanding 60-run victory over Bangladesh
in their only warm-up match ahead of the T20 World Cup.

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The Men in Blue ended up ticking off several boxes with a clincial all-round display against the Tigers. Rishabh Pant made a grand return in Indian colours for the first time since surviving a car accident in December 2022, while Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Dube shone with the ball by collecting a couple of wickets each, the former dominating the powerplay.

Also a welcome sight was all-rounder Hardik Pandya smashing his way to an unbeaten 40 off 23 balls, striking the ball with the kind of ferocity that had made him such a valued finish both for India as well as for the Mumbai Indians all these years.

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It wasn’t just fine-tuning their T20 World Cup combination that the Men in Blue had in mind when facing the Tigers in their warm-up clash. They also wanted to get a hang of the conditions at the newly-inaugurated Nassau County International Stadium in Long Island, New York, which hosted its first competitive match on Saturday and will be hosting three of India’s four group stage matches.

What were the conditions like at the Nassau County Stadium?

The Nassau County International Stadium had been constructed recently at the Eisenhower Park in New York City with drop-in pitches that had been carried all the way from Adelaide, Australia via Florida. Not much, therefore, was known of the venue though early expectations were that of the venue being a batting-friendly surface with some support of the seamers.

India had posted 182/5 after opting to bat in the warm-up clash on Saturday, falling short of the 200-mark that appeared well within reach at one point. The total, however, would prove more than handy for Rohit Sharma and Co as the Bangladeshis struggled to get going on a surface that was slower than expected and quite a few deliveries going lower than expected, taking the batters by surprise.

The contest had been killed off inside the first four overs as Bangladesh were reduced to 10/3. Handy contributions from senior spin-bowling all-rounders Mahmudullah (40) and Shakib Al Hasan (28) only served to reduce the margin of defeat and help the Bangladeshis cross 100 and eventually post 122/9.

While the strip that the Indians and the Bangladeshis had batted on was a bit slower than expected, it remains to be seen if the other strips, including the centre wicket, behave the same way once Sri Lanka face South Africa on Monday.

Additionally, the dimensions at the Nassau County Stadium were also fairly big compared to some of the venues in India and New Zealand that have boundaries a little over 50 metres in certain directions, meaning the batters would have to put in a lot more effort to clear the rope in this part of the world. The outfield too wasn’t as quick as expected, and there were times when puffs of dust visible while the ball bounced its way towards the fence.

India head coach Rahul Dravid, who is set to leave the role after the T20 World Cup, described the New York pitch as “spongy” while stating that the Men in Blue had posted a total that was “above par”.

“It’s great to get a good it-out. Obviously, it looks like a good facility in terms of as quickly as they have put up. the ground is a bit soft the guys could feel that on the hamstring and the calves. So that’s the area we need to ensure that we are working around and ensuring that the guys are looking after does feel a little bit heavy underneath.

“A little bit spungy at times but I thought we coped really well, we managed that really well. The batters had put an above-par score on that wicket and the bowlers came out and bowled really well. All and all we got run-around and to get a game here is really nice. hopefully we can prepare well for the next couple of days and be ready,” Dravid said in a video posted by the BCCI.