The New York leg of the ongoing T20 World Cup proved to a nightmare for the participating teams. All the matches turned out to be low-scoring on two-paced pitches with uneven bounce.
On Wednesday (June 12), India skipper Rohit Sharma acknowledged the challenges posed by the newly-laid drop-in pitches at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium.
Notably, Team India played their first three Group A games at this venue. Despite the tough conditions, the Men in Blue emerged victorious against the Ireland, Pakistan and USA.
In fact, India achieved the highest successful chase at this ground, reaching a target of 111/3 in response to the USA's 110/8. While Arshdeep Singh starred with the ball as he claimed 4 wickets for just 9 runs, Suryakumar Yadav (50* off 49) and Shivam Dube (31* off 35) played unbeaten knocks to seal the deal.
“We knew it would be tough. Credit to us for the way we held our nerve and got that partnership. Credit to Surya and Dube for showing maturity and taking us through,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
The win against USA made sure India qualifying to the Super 8 stage of the tournament with renewed confidence and determination.
“Being in the Super Eight is a big relief — playing cricket here wasn't easy (as) it could have been anyone's game. We had to stick through till the end in all three games. We will take a lot of confidence from these wins,” he added.
Rohit lauded the key contributions of three players in the team's victory. In particular, he was effusive in praise of Suryakumar for adapting his aggressive batting style on a difficult wicket.
“He (Suryakumar) showed he has a different game to him, that's what you expect from experienced players. Credit to the way he stuck through today to take the game deep and win it for us,” the Indian captain said.
“We knew the bowlers had to take the lead (as) run scoring was difficult. All the bowlers did the job, particularly Arshdeep,” he further stated.
Rohit also explained his decision to allow Dube to bowl one over in the match. “You want options and we should be able to use them as and when we can. Today, the pitch favoured the seamers so I wanted to use him,” he said.
Arshdeep Singh, who achieved the best T20I bowling figures for India, expressed his desire to capitalize on the pitch that offered assistance to seam bowlers.
“In the last two games, I gave away a few more runs, (and I) wasn't happy with that. The team always shows belief in me and keeps backing me, I had to deliver for them,” the left-arm pacer said.
“The wicket is very conducive to fast bowlers and it's helping us get some seam movement. The plan was simple, pitch it in the wicket and let the ball do the talking. Don't give easy balls to score, our batsmen are also facing difficulties to score runs,” he added.
Talking further about his bowling plans, Arshdeep said, “The plan was to hit the hard lengths. In conditions like this, you can use the wicket more.”
Aaron Jones, who served as the stand-in captain for the USA, felt his team put up a respectable performance but ultimately fell short of the ideal total.
“(We were) 10-15 runs short. If we got 130 then it would have been a tough total, that's how it goes sometimes. The boys were very disciplined, really proud of the bowling unit,” Jones said.
“(It) feels good, this is what we wanted for USA cricket, enjoying it. We will recalibrate now, have a few meetings and come back strong,” he added.
(With PTI inputs)
