The Nassau County stadium that hosted India’s four games, including the warmup against Bangladesh on June 1, is set to be dismantled after the New York leg of the T20 World Cup ended with India’s seven-wicket win over tournament co-hosts USA on Wednesday.

The Stadium, constructed in just 106 days, will take approximately six weeks to be wiped out and that work actually began right after the India-USA match ended in the afternoon. The Eisenhower Park, which housed the stadium will be reverted to its original state, with free public access.

Advertisement

The pop-up stadium, one of the three venues in the USA, has faced criticism for the nature of its drop in pitches due to its penchant for unpredictability. Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas and the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Florida are the two other venues in the USA.

“After the last match is held at East Meadow on June 12, the stadium will be dismantled, the parts shipped back to Las Vegas and another golf event, and Eisenhower Park will return to normal, but with a world-class cricket pitch left behind,” a New York Times report stated.

The stadium had a capacity of 34,000 and hosted a packed crowd during India’s clash against Pakistan with some tickets sold at an astronomical price of $2500 to $10,000. The stadium consisted of 10 drop-in pitches, four for the main ground and six for the nearby training facility in Cantiague Park. They were prepared by the Adelaide Turf International and maintained in Florida during the colder months, before it’s installation in New York.

The drop-in pitches hosted eight matches and produced unpredictable and occasionally dangerous bounce, resulting in low scores in the first two matches where no team crossed 100 runs. It led to widespread criticism and prompted the International Cricket Council (ICC) to issue a statement acknowledging that the “pitches have not played consistently”.

The highest successful chase at the venue was only 111 runs by India in their win over USA on Wednesday. Canada’s 137/7 against Ireland was the highest total recorded, while India successfully defended a low total of 119 against Pakistan.

In a nail-biting match, South Africa barely chased down 103 runs against the Netherlands losing six wickets in the process, and later defended 113 runs against Bangladesh, winning by a narrow margin of four runs.

“The playing field, with the rectangular pitch in the middle, was fashioned from special grass grown in Florida. The grandstands are borrowed materials most recently used at Las Vegas’s Formula 1 race and professional golf events,” the NYT report added.

While the modular components of the stadium will be dismantled and repurposed, local cricket clubs and fans will continue to have access to the top-tier turf and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the second stage of the tournament, super 8, will see action shifting completely to the Caribbean islands, leading up to the final on June 29 in Barbados.