New York stadium that hosted India vs Pakistan is getting dismantled in middle of T20 World Cup

“After the last match is held at East Meadow on June 12, the stadium will be dismantled, the parts shipped back to Las Vegas and another golf event, and Eisenhower Park will return to normal, but with a world-class cricket pitch left behind,” a New York Times report stated.

The stadium had a capacity of 34,000 and hosted a packed crowd during India’s clash against Pakistan with some tickets sold at an astronomical price of $2500 to $10,000.

India played four matches at the venue, including a warm-up game against Bangladesh on June 1. The drop-in pitches hosted eight matches and produced unpredictable and occasionally dangerous bounce, resulting in particularly low scores in the first two matches where no team crossed 100 runs.

It led to widespread criticism and prompted the ICC to issue a statement acknowledging that the “pitches have not played consistently”.

The highest successful chase at the venue was only 111 runs by India in their win over USA on Wednesday.

Canada’s 137/7 against Ireland was the highest total recorded, while India successfully defended a low total of 119 against Pakistan.

In a nail-biting match, South Africa barely chased down 103 runs against the Netherlands losing six wickets in the process, and later defended 113 runs against Bangladesh, winning by a narrow margin of four runs.

“The playing field, with the rectangular pitch in the middle, was fashioned from special grass grown in Florida. The grandstands are borrowed materials most recently used at Las Vegas’s Formula 1 race and professional golf events,” the NYT report added.

(With agency imputs)