New York prepares for India-Pakistan T20: ‘Super Bowl on steroids’

New York officials are preparing for the “Super Bowl on steroids” as thousands descend upon Nassau County International Cricket Stadium for the clash of arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the group stage of the T20 World Cup on Sunday.

The two sides form one of the most intense rivalries in sport and the temporary, 34,000-seat stadium in East Meadow, New York, will be bursting at the seams, with millions more watching on TV.

“India v Pakistan is like the Super Bowl on steroids. We had no idea how huge it was,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said. “We want to put our best foot forward.”

That has meant an extraordinary safety effort, with security personnel from every level in the region working in conjunction in the county, which sits adjacent to New York City.

New York state governor Kathy Hochul said last week that there will be increased security for the World Cup, after reported threats including those specifically related to the India-Pakistan fixture.

“I found her remarks refreshing,” said Blakeman. “I'm very confident that this is a safe environment — if it wasn't, then I wouldn't hold it.”

The two sides have not played a Test since the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the least expensive ticket available for Sunday's match was $790 on ticket resale website StubHub, as of Monday afternoon.

Operations appeared to go smoothly on Monday and security blanketed the stadium in New York as it hosted the first of eight matches, as South Africa beat Sri Lanka by six wickets.

The US are co-hosting the tournament with the West Indies, with matches staged also in Texas and Florida, as cricket hopes to woo American fans before returning to the Olympic programme in 2028.

The 12,562 fans in attendance in New York on Monday kept a party atmosphere going and immigrants who never thought they would see their national team play cricket on US soil got a taste of home.

“Literally a dream come true. One would never expect cricket to be here (but) like you see so many fans out here,” said Shehan Perera, 27, who moved to the US from Sri Lanka when he was 14-years-old.

“There's a demand for cricket anywhere. If there's an event, we're going to show up.” 

India got their first taste of a Nassau County pitch that has bounce and would probably be more suited to Test cricket beating Ireland there on Wednesday.

After the win India's batting coach, Vikram Rathour, said their batters might have the skills and experience needed to navigate the challenge of playing on the tricky pitch.

India captain Rohit Sharma led from the front with an impressive half-century to guide his team to an eight-wicket victory over Ireland in their opening group match.

However, batters found it tough going, with Nassau County's drop-in pitch offering a lot of movement and bounce, leading to a low-scoring match after Ireland were bundled out for 96 with four overs to spare.

“It was a challenging wicket and we were expecting a challenging wicket because we played a practice game here. So, we knew what to expect,” Rathour said.

“It is what it is. We need to find a way to deal with it and I think we have enough skills in the team and enough experience in the team to deal with it. We should be fine.

“We have enough good batters who can manage to bat well on any kind of surface. I think that has been our strength for many, many years. I think we can adapt really well to different conditions.”

The stadium in New York has seen few runs in the two World Cup games it has hosted so far, with South Africa defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets on Monday after dismissing their Asian opponents for their lowest-ever T20I score of 77.

The pitch has drawn widespread criticism, with former England captain Michael Vaughan saying in a post on social media platform X: “Trying to sell the game in the States is great. Love it.

Pakistan get their first experience of cricket in the US meeting the hosts on Thursday (5.30pm), though that match will be at Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas.

Reuters