Navjot Singh Sidhu says playing surface should have been ready two months earlier
NEW YORK: It wasn't a game that everyone was waiting for, but suddenly there were a few inquisitive eyes focused on the Ireland-Canada action at the Nassau International County Ground on Friday.
The reason was obviously the pitch that has been the centre of attention at the venue, which will host the crucial India-Pakistan game on Sunday. Canada managed 137-7 in 20 overs, the highest at the venue so far, but that didn't mean much.
The ICC said in a statement on Thursday that they were working on the pitch, but the amount of purchase that Irish pacers Mark Adair and Josh Little extracted during the Powerplay showed that there won't be much relief for India and Pakistan's top-order batters.
Former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu feels that there are undulations on the pitch that cannot be dealt with in such a short time.
"It is a new pitch, it takes times to settle down. If this pitch was ready two months before, it could have been a different case. But here, the ball is hitting the undulations and are going either up or down. It is too late to make any significant change to the nature of the pitch," Sidhu said during a programme hosted by Star Sports at the venue.
Batters have to cope: Bhajji
But former India spinner Harbhajan Singh, another panelist, felt that the pitch is just more bowler friendly and there is no reason to panic about the surface. "There are Test matches in India which finish in two-and-a-half days, so why this hue and cry? It's true that the pitch is difficult and it will need a lot of adjustment on the part of the batters, but that's fine. It is a different type of entertainment," Bhajji said.
Pakistan's defeat to USA is another talking point going into this high-profile clash and Sidhu feels "it is the ignominy of the defeat" that is going to hurt them. "It is Pakistan's batting that is truly hurting them. Even if you see the USA game, the bowlers brought them back. But the batting is just not happening, they are like a bird without a wing," the former opener added.
But both Harbhajan and Sidhu feel that Pakistan have the wherewithal to fight back, especially if they win the toss. "Yes, the toss is extremely crucial, if they win that on this pitch, it might not be one way traffic," Sidhu said.
Call for resumption of Indo-Pak ties
Whenever an India-Pakistan game happens, the obvious question that crops us is whether the two nations should start playing bilateral cricket.
While Sidhu insisted that they should, saying that "sport is a unifier", Harbhajan said that it is not necessary for India to always go to Pakistan and play them. "If playing in Pakistan is a problem, we should find ways to play series around the world. The fans want it and it should happen," Bhajji said.
