‘Nobody has any clue’ Hathurusinghe wants data on USA pitches ahead of T20 World Cup

(ESPN) With the 2024 T20 World Cup to be played in the USA and the Caribbean in June, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe is trying to gather intel about the pitches there, especially in Dallas. They will also be playing in New York and Kingstown (in St Vincent, where they played a Test in 2014) in the first round.

Part of Bangladesh’s preparation has involved readying more batting-friendly surfaces in Sylhet during the ongoing T20I series against Sri Lanka.

Hathurusinghe said that since the New York venue will have drop-in pitches that are prepared in Adelaide, they should expect conditions they have faced before. But there isn’t much that they know about the venues in Dallas and Kingstown.

“We are looking at a combination for the World Cup, [especially] how the individuals are fitting in and understanding the game plan and be comfortable with that,” Hathurusinghe said. “We wanted to play on good wickets here. We don’t know about the wickets in America. We play two important games in America. Nobody has any clue [about the pitches]. There’s not much data behind it.

“From what I understand, New York will have a drop-in wicket from Adelaide. They will hopefully be similar to Australian pitches. There’s little feedback from NSW Cricket about Dallas. Washington Freedom played there. I spoke to their GM when I was in Australia. Our recollection from St Vincent [Kingstown] is the last Test we played there. We are preparing as much as we can for these unknown factors.”

Hathurusinghe said that the plan, with just under three months to go for the tournament, is to ensure that their bowlers can adapt to the pitches, which are expected to be batting-friendly.