In this video, we will analyse the group stage matches of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, jointly hosted by the West Indies, and the USA, for the first time. But we will focus only on the USA league matches.
Having seen several high-scoring games in the recently concluded IPL, it was expected that the T20 World Cup would start off with a bang.
When the ICC awarded the hosting rights, their intentions were clear that they were interested in developing cricket in USA. But things didn’t turn out as expected. The matches held in USA were mostly low-scoring games. Some matches were well defended, and some went down to the wire.
In the group stages, there were only three instances of teams passing 200, and all were in the West Indies. In the USA leg, the highest score recorded in New York, was just 137. In some matches, scores of 116 and 120 were defended well due to the uneven bounce, which made it very hard for batters to settle.
The drop-in pitches from Adelaide in Australia made it difficult for the batters to score freely and the bowlers dominated the scene.
Some teams were bundled out for less than 100, but even those scores were chased down labouriously. The India-Pakistan match was another such low-scoring game where India defended just 119.
The ICC took a big gamble by not adequately testing the pitches or the conditions before such a huge tournament like a T20 World Cup. The pitches should be prepared in a way that there should be a battle between bat and ball.
And some grounds, like the one in Florida, were not equipped to withstand the rain and games like the one between India and Canada, were abandoned without a ball bowled. Some international grounds, like in Sri Lanka, have enough covers to protect the entire outfield. Unfortunately, due to poor drainage and lack of such facilities, the groundstaff were unable to make the ground ready for play. Believe it or not, this is the USA we are talking about.
The idea of developing cricket is good, but ICC should be aware that such basic amenities are needed to get the game going. While cricket fans in the USA got to see their favourite stars, the quality of the cricket was a huge let down for cricket lovers.
Script and voiceover: N. Kesavan
Production: Shiva Raj
