We are on to the fifth day of the ongoing T20 World Cup and it still does not seem like the ninth edition of the mega event, being held in the USA and the West Indies, is being able to hook cricket lovers.
And there might be a few reasons for it.
This edition of the T20 World Cup is unique for two reasons. First, a total of 20 teams are playing in the main phase, giving the ICC associate nations an exposure like never before. And, the other is that this is the first time that an ICC associate nation — USA — is co-hosting the event.
While there was this higher risk of mismatches whenever powerhouses would line up against minnows, the most scpetcism was regarding whether cricket’s attempt to tap into the broad and cash-rich market of the USA, a country known for baseball and basketball and has its own rendition of football, backfire in the form of the dullest cricketing event in recent memory.
Drop-in pitches have been brought in from Australia but those are not being able to offer anything even closer to the cricket that is seen on the land down under or at any major ICC event.
The drop-in pitch used at the Nassau County Cricket Stadium in New York, the venue for the blockbuster India-Pakistan clash on June 9, has already been labelled as “dangerous” by pundits, especially after two successive low-scoring contests at the venue. Sri Lanka were bundled out by South Africa for just 77 while India romped to an eight-wicket win after restricting Ireland to 96 all-out in yesterday’s game at the venue.
It is not that everything has been uninspiring so far at the T20 World Cup, as there were glimpses of cricketing brilliance — like when co-hosts USA were powered by a 40-ball 90 from Aaron Jones to bounce from a precarious position to chase down a mammoth 195-run target against Canada in the tournament opener — and moments to cherish — Uganda’s 43-year-old Frank Nsubuga creating history for least runs conceded by registering figures of 2-4 in their win over PNG today.
The sea of red and blue, in support of Nepal who made their return to the T20 mega event after 10 years with their group game against the Netherlands, at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Tuesday showed that there may as well be a lot of offerings for cricket in the US.
Hence, like Paul Taylor, former England cricketer who is now the International Sales Director – Cricket at SIS Grass, predicted the behaviour of the drop-in pitches to settle down as the tournament goes on, cricket fans would also hope for the tournament to pick up the pace from here on, and no later.
