Image Credit- ICC
On Wednesday, January 17, the much-discussed Nassau
County International Stadium in New York—the site of the T20 World Cup’s main
match between India and Pakistan—is scheduled to unveil its plan. Work on the
34,000-seat stadium is anticipated to start soon, probably later this week, if
information coming from the USA is any guide.
Though it’s a temporary structure, the Long Island
stadium is reportedly bigger than any pitch in England and even bigger than the
Wankhede. The ICC now considers it a top priority project. It is envisioned as
a modular stadium such to those used at major Formula One and golf events. The
New York arena will be equipped with the same seats used in the Las Vegas Grand
Prix.
“It is anything but makeshift…it’s likely to be
one of the most modern cricket stadiums in the world with everything you could
possibly wish for,” claims an official involved in the project’s
development.
Three India matches have been scheduled for New York
by the ICC in association with local organisers. These matches are scheduled to
take place on June 5 against Ireland, June 9 against Pakistan, and June 12
against the USA. On June 15, the league matchup with Canada will take place in
Lauderhill, Florida. Dallas, the second American hosting city, will not be
hosting an India match, though.
It was anticipated that Dallas will receive an India
match for hosting Major League Cricket [MLC] matches at Grand Prairie Cricket
Stadium in July of last year. To promote the game in the area, the Dallas Super
Kings, the home team in the Texas city, wanted to host an India match at the
arena.
Kasi Viswanathan, who manages the Dallas Super Kings,
an affiliate of IPL’s Chennai Super Kings, told about writing to the ICC for an
India game in Dallas. “If the ICC wants to promote cricket in the US, they
should have allotted an India game to us,” said Viswanathan
But it appears that the ICC has its own justifications
for rejecting the request. It appeared that holding a game in Dallas would
present some organisational and logistical difficulties. Naturally, the time
zone difference comes first, followed by capacity. Dallas has a permanent
structure, however it can only hold roughly 7,500 people. The organisers had in
mind a bigger site for a game against India. Moreover, it seems that there are
difficulties with direct flights from the city to the Caribbean, which is the
second nation holding the June event.
“This event isn’t a great time zone for Star [the
broadcaster which bankrolls most of ICC’s finances], and we have to balance
that with more local demands. Dallas is an hour further away from New York and
the Caribbean, which makes scheduling an India game there impossible,” an
organizing official said. “The India games are the most attended. Why
would we send them to the smallest venue in the USA to limit the number of fans
who can attend?”