Chris Gayle made a big point about the decline in pitches Batsmen were seen struggling in the American leg in New York
Bridgetown (Barbados). The matches played in the American leg of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 did not produce big scores. The bowlers mostly dominated the batsmen. West Indies’ veteran opener Chris Gayle has blamed the pitches for this. Those who could not fully prepare after ‘drop in’. According to the ICC, drop-in pitches were used at the Nassau County Stadium in New York. The pitches were prepared in Adelaide, Australia and brought to Florida in December 2023. Gayle said that the pitch had not recovered from ‘jet lag’ after the long flight.
‘Jet lag’ usually means tiredness caused by a long flight or travel. Chris Gayle felt that the New York pitches did not get enough time to prepare after the ‘drop in’. The pitches were trucked from Florida to New York. This pitch proved to be one of the toughest wickets to bat on during the tournament.
“There is no doubt that this has been a low-scoring World Cup,” Gayle told a press conference on Friday. And sometimes even the wicket slows down. This is a batsmen’s format… but the bowlers are getting the edge time and time again in this tournament. The bowlers have been very dominant in this T20 World Cup. We want to see better pitches. America’s pitches were like ‘jet lag’. After bringing pitches from Australia, there was no time to adapt to the situation. That’s why we saw some low-scoring matches.
The former West Indies captain, however, praised the ICC for its efforts to promote the game in America. He said, ‘ICC did a great job. It is great to promote the game by traveling to America for the trophy and then organizing matches there. He took cricket to a place where football, basketball and baseball are very popular. They have done very well from a marketing point of view. Regarding the final match to be played between India and South Africa, he said that the ground in Barbados is suitable for batting. Gayle said, ‘Barbados has proved to be the best place for batsmen in this tournament. It is expected that the batsmen will score runs here in the final.
Tags: Chris Gayle, ICC T20 World Cup
First published: June 29, 2024, 20:57 IST