Venue for India-Pakistan T20 World Cup clash expected to be ready in three months

NEW DELHI: Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, which is set to host the highly anticipated T20 World Cup clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan, is expected to be ready within three months.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the matches to be hosted in New York in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

The Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, which could accommodate 34,000 spectators, is scheduled to host the bitter cricketing neighbours for a mouth-watering clash on June 9 and is among eight T20 World Cup matches.

Sharing details of the newest global cricketing venue, the ICC said the newly-laid cricketing turf and arena is the first-of-its-kind modular stadium.

"The stadium will feature an array of seating options including premium and general admission, VIP and hospitality suites, as well as a unique party deck and cabanas. Sustainability is at the forefront of this project. The grandstands, previously used for the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, are being repurposed for the T20 World Cup venue," read a post on ICC's official handle on X.

ICC's head of events, Chris Tetley, revealed the testing phase is scheduled to begin in the week of May 13. This phase will include warm-up matches and will provide the organisers with a better understanding of the venue before the World Cup matches kick off on June 3.

"There will be warm-up matches played at the facility (New York) so that we know from a cricket perspective how the venue runs. Also, importantly, we will know from an operational perspective how all of the functional teams that will come together to run the stadium need to interact on an event day with people coming through the turnstiles," Tetley was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"Part of that is understanding how do people come through the turnstiles and where do they go, how do they use the venue, where do they walk? Because that will then help us refine plans on spectator flows and where we need additional signage, where people get confused, where do they congregate?" Tetley added.

ICC added that a drop-in surface, similar to those used at Adelaide Oval and Eden Park, is currently being curated in Florida. The pitch will be transported to New York in early May.

A set of drop-in pitches is being prepared in Florida by Adelaide Oval Turf Solutions, which is headed by the head groundsperson at Adelaide Oval, Damian Hough.

The outfield is being manufactured by LandTek Group, known for preparing playing fields for the New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Inter Miami CF.

Populous is the design team behind this project, renowned for creating some of the most iconic stadia worldwide, including the world's largest cricket stadium--the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad--and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

"In addition to testing events that gives us a lot of reassurance is the quality of the people involved and the quality of the work that they do day in, day out: from Damian (Hough) on the pitches and the number of pitches he's building, which gives us a bit of flex in case one of the pitches doesn't go as well as we want, we can shift around so that we're not reliant on you know, a no latency solution there," Tetley said.

"LandTek are working hand in glove with Damian on all of the agronomy aspects of the facility. From a cricket perspective, they are the ones that we are most keenly interested in ensuring over the right quality, because that's fundamental," Tetley added.

T20 World Cup fixtures that will be hosted in New York:

Sri Lanka vs South Africa, June 3

India vs Ireland, June 5

Canada vs Ireland, June 7

Netherlands vs South Africa, June 8

India vs Pakistan June 9

South Africa vs Bangladesh, June 10

Pakistan vs Canada, June 11

USA vs India, June 12.