India head coach Rahul Dravid highlighted the lack of buzz around the T20 World Cup in New York, saying “things are certainly different” in the lead-up to their first game against Ireland. Dravid said India have continued to be professional in terms of their training even when they are ‘strangely’ practising in a park close to the match venue in the city.
India are staying near the World Cup venue in New York, but have been training at Cantiague Park, which is roughly 5 miles away from the newly-built Nassau Country Cricket Stadium in New York. India had a three-hour training session on Monday, their first practice stint with the entire unit in the lead-up to their Group A opener against Ireland, scheduled for Wednesday, June 5.
“It is a bit strange to be practising in a park,” Rahul Dravid said, leaving the reporters in New York in splits.
“It’s great fun. It’s something different, but it’s exciting,” he added.
“Obviously at the World Cups, you’d be in big stadiums or you’d be at cricket stadiums traditionally. But you know, we’re at a public park and practising.”
India played their warm-up match at the 34,000-seater in New York and managed to post 182. While most of the batters struggled to get going on a sluggish pitch, Rishabh Pant (53) and Hardik Pandya (40) shone and helped India post a competitive total against Bangladesh. In reply, Bangladesh were bundled out for just 122.
India play Ireland, Pakistan (June 9) and the USA (June 12) in New York.
“It is obviously exciting that it’s coming to a new country, it is coming to a new place. It feels slightly different in terms of, I guess, typically the buzz that you have around these events, with cricket not being one of the major sports in this country. So you don’t feel that kind of buzz over here. But hopefully, once our games start and a lot of the Indian fans do start coming in, you start seeing that similar kind of excitement,” he added.
The head coach also conceded that the conditions are bit of an unknown, but express confidence that India will be able to adapt to the pitches in New York.
“The toss is not something that is in our hand. I am not sure it’s going to be too much of a difference. It is a little bit of an unknown for everyone. It’s not that you have a history or a lot of track records about the wickets. Generally, in these games, the toss is not a factor. There is not going to be a lot of dew, especially in the day games we are playing in. Hopefully not (Toss not a major factor),” Dravid said.
“The pitches and the outfield, little bit of an unknown. It’s the same for everyone. We all have to learn how to react to it. I truly believe we have the experience and ability to adapt to different situations. From the very little I have seen, it might not be a 220-230 wicket in the IPL. We have to respond to that,” he added.
