IND vs IRE: Rahul Dravid takes a dig at ICC as it forces Team India to practice in a public park in USA

The ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024 has been facing significant scrutiny regarding the drop-in pitches in the USA, with the players and cricket experts labeling these pitches subpar.

Amid the controversy over the drop-in pitches in the USA, Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid expressed his dissatisfaction with the practice facilities provided for the T20 World Cup 2024 in New York.

During a media interaction, Dravid took a dig at the ICC and USA Cricket Board for not providing the traditional cricket stadiums for the participating teams to train for the global tournament.

Rahul Dravid baffled by training arrangements for ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in New York

Actually, the teams, including Team India, faced the unusual situation where they had to practice in a public park at Cantiague Park, located roughly five miles from the main ground in New York.

Dravid, who has a wealth of experience from participating in three World Cups and coaching in the last three ICC events, expressed his bewilderment at the arrangements made for the teams in New York.

The Indian head coach noted that it was unusual and not befitting the standards expected to prepare for such a big ICC tournament in a public park rather than the traditional cricket stadiums.

Rahul Dravid was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz: “It's a bit strange to be practicing in a park. Obviously, at the World Cups, you'd be in big stadiums or you'd be at cricket stadiums traditionally. But you know, we're at a public park and practicing.”

The facilities in New York, set to host eight of the sixteen T20 World Cup 2024 matches allocated to the USA, have now come under the spotlight. Actually, the ICC constructed a temporary stadium in New York, but the first match on Monday saw Sri Lanka collapse for a mere 77 runs against South Africa.

Even the Proteas team struggled before managing to chase down the modest target. Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid observed the lack of excitement in New York for the T20 World Cup 2024 and expressed hope that the atmosphere would become livelier once their games started and Indian fans started to fill the stands.

Rahul Dravid missing the buzz around the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA

However, Dravid said that it is thrilling for cricket to be introduced to a new country and venue, but mentioned that the usual buzz surrounding the ICC events is missing, likely because cricket isn't a major sport in the United States. Despite the different atmosphere, Dravid emphasized that Team India’s preparation and approach remain unchanged for the mega event.

Dravid said: “Yeah, obviously it's slightly different. It's obviously exciting that it's coming to a new country, it's coming to a new place. With cricket not being one of the major sports in this country, you don't feel that kind of buzz over here. But hopefully, once our games start and a lot of the Indian fans do start coming in, you start seeing that similar kind of excitement.

But yeah, I think from a preparation perspective and from what we want to get out of it, I don't think that's changed, our preparation, our professionalism, the way we are trying to approach things. It's pretty, pretty similar to what we would normally do.”