The India-Pakistan match will take place at the new 34,000-capacity stadium in New York.
We all know that a cricket World Cup’s success is mainly dependent on India’s broadcast audience. The competition’s most anticipated match is between India and Pakistan. The frosty relationship between the two neighbours outside the cricket pitch adds to the excitement of the game. As a result, regardless of where the World Cup is held, India matches are always played at prime time at home, and the India-Pakistan match is reserved for the venue with the largest attendance.
All of these factors were considered again for the June T20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean. It’s just that the difficulties involved – the geographical distance between the Indian subcontinent and the United States, as well as the lack of cricketing culture and infrastructure in the United States – make it more difficult to make it work.Of the 55 World Cup matches, 41 will take place in the Caribbean. However, all four of India’s league games will be played on a day, and three of them, including the Pakistan encounter, will be held in New York in a pop-up stadium.
“We’re in New York because it’s a hotspot of cricket enthusiasts, and we’re presenting some of the most anxiously awaited cricket matches, including the most anticipated of them. We expect the atmosphere to be World Cup-worthy,” said Chris Tetley, ICC’s Head of Events, to a limited group of journalists. “Day time is something we are taking into account, but when world class players put up a show, people will come to see.”
This is the ICC’s most ambitious endeavor yet, aimed at tapping into the rich sports market in the United States and the Indian diaspora. “Our global rights approach highlights the importance of the United States. It is our third-largest market (after India and the United Kingdom). We’ve identified 30 million cricket lovers,” Tetley stated.
He is pleased that the New York stadium (34,000 capacity) will host “more spectators than any ground in the UK and more than Wankhede”. However, this will be the first time in cricket that a makeshift stadium, complete with pitch, outfield, and spectator seats, would be built for the game and then destroyed.
The outfield in Nassau County, 25 miles east of Manhattan, is now damp. The old ground will be hammered out, with work beginning in February, drainage created, and a new outfield completed by early May. Following that, a drop-in pitch will be erected, and testing will continue throughout May, including the tournament’s warm-up matches.
Sri Lanka will face South Africa in the World Cup’s opening match in the United States on June 3.
“It’s something new in cricket. But it happens every day of the week in other sports. What the Ryder Cup accomplished is exactly what we are undertaking. “Some of our equipment will come from Las Vegas F1,” Tetley remarked.
The outfield is being built by the LandTek team who built the Yankees’ field for David Beckham’s Inter Miami, where Lionel Messi now plays. Damian Hough, the Adelaide Oval’s curator, is in charge of the drop-in pitch work. The grandstands used for the Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix are being converted.
Integrity of the Tournament
The tournament’s structure, which lets favorite teams know where their Super Eight matches will take place and who they are most likely to play, has generated concerns about the tournament’s integrity even though it will feature the highest participation rate (20 teams) at an ICC event.The ICC argues that the decision was made for practical and spectator comfort reasons. It makes sense simply. A system that preserves the competition’s integrity while providing us with an idea of a team’s potential home game is advantageous for all parties involved, as stadiums and fans alike must make plans for the most popular teams, according to Tetley.
