Rahul Dravid Laments On The Facilities In New York

On a day when the drop-in pitches for the Twenty20 World Cup received criticism from all corners, Rahul Dravid took a jibe at the practice facilities provided for the global championship.

"It's a little bit strange to train in a park," Dravid Quipped.

Teams playing in New York are training at Cantiague Park, which is about five miles away from the ground, a situation that did not impress Rahul Dravid one bit.

Dravid on Poor Training Facilities

"Obviously when there is a World Cup we are in the stadiums, training over there, traditionally the big Cricket venues, here we are practicing in a public park". said Dravid,

Dravid who has played in three World Cups and coached the India side in the last three ICC events, said flashing a smile that looked more of sarcasm rather than amusement.

All of a Sudden, the facilities in New York which will be hosting 8 of the 16 games World Cup games allotted to the US, have come into the spotlight. The International Cricket Council (ICC) built a temporary stadium and on Monday Sri Lanka got bundled out for 77 against South Africa, who also struggled a lot during the run chase before knocking it off with 22 balls left.

Damian Hough, who was in charge of the drop-in pitches, had predicted the pitches to be like any other Twenty20 surface.

Damian Hough to ICC

"I am glad that the drop in pitches has reached the USA, now we are focusing on bedding the pitch so that the end product that we want is favorable to everyone at the T20 World Cup

Hough, who is also the head curator of Adelaide Oval, said in a statement released through the ICC last month.

The pitch received widespread criticism, with Sanjay Manjrekar posting a comment on social media that seemed to capture the general sentiment. "Pitch of the 80s & batters of the 2020s. Not a good union," Manjrekar wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Dravid, meanwhile, did miss the absence of buzz around New York, where India will play three games, and hoped the situation would improve once the games start.

Rahul Dravid says No Buzz at all

"it's slightly different the buzz is a little less over here, it's good that Cricket is moving forward it's reaching new countries like here, these things can happen to know the fact that Cricket isn't the first preferred sport in this country, hopefully when our fans will start coming for our games we'll get to see that same level of excitement which has been missing in the last few days"

"Yes things are certainly different from the buzz perspective, It can happen, but from a preparation perspective, the routine is the same, team's training, professionalism, and the things we want to achieve, everything is pretty much same," Dravid said