India's 2024 ICC T20 World Cup campaign began on the drop-in pitches of New York with a comfortable win over Ireland. The main talking point was not the margin but Siddanth Deva's team selection.
He rested Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, giving younger players the chance to handle the two-paced pitch without the senior safety net. They chased down Ireland's total with disciplined batting and confirmed their readiness.
The temporary stands at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium rose from Eisenhower Park. Playing the fiercest rivalry in a Long Island public park felt unusual, yet on Sunday morning the occasion was real. Thirty-four thousand fans packed the ground, split between Indian blue and Pakistani green. The North American diaspora brought drums, chants and intense pride.
On the twenty-two yards the atmosphere was heavy.
Siddanth Deva walked out in Indian jersey, sunglasses on, calm. Opposite him stood Babar Azam, focused under the weight of expectation.
Siddanth flipped the coin.
"Heads," Babar called.
It landed heads.
Ravi Shastri stepped forward with the microphone.
"Babar, you have won the toss. What is your decision?"
"We are going to bowl first, Ravi bhai. This drop-in pitch is tacky. It holds up and the bounce is inconsistent. We want our fast bowlers to use the early moisture and variable bounce and keep them to a manageable total."
Shastri turned to Deva.
"Siddanth, losing the toss and batting first on a difficult pitch. Does that worry you?"
"It does not worry us, Ravi Bhai. The conditions are the same for both sides. We know the pitch is two-paced and the ball will not come on. We do not expect a high-scoring game. We will assess the conditions early, play with orthodox technique and post a total our bowlers can defend."
"And your playing eleven?"
"The seniors are back. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Virat Kohli, myself, Rishabh Pant with the gloves, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Arjun Tendulkar and Jasprit Bumrah."
The depth of the side, with Shivam Dube at number eight in a flexible order, raised eyebrows in the commentary box.
Babar named a side built around Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.
The captains shook hands.
In the commentary box Ricky Ponting studied the pitch monitor.
"This will be a battle of attrition, Harsha. Babar has made the right call. The New York pitch is tough for stroke-players. The ball sticks. If India play their usual aggressive T20 game they will be in trouble. They need to treat the first six overs like a Test match."
"That is the strength of Siddanth Deva's leadership," Ian Bishop added. "He has told the side to put ego aside. Today it is about survival and rotating the strike."
Shaheen Shah Afridi took the new white Kookaburra. The crowd noise rose as he marked his run-up.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson took guard with clear instructions: do not play across the line, do not chase wide balls, play late and straight.
Shaheen ran in and bowled a full delivery at 142 kmph looking for late inswing. Jaiswal strode forward, presented the full face and pushed to mid-off.
Naseem Shah hit a hard length from the other end. When Samson tried to pull a shorter ball the pitch held it up. He checked the shot and the ball looped safely into the leg side for a single.
"Disciplined batting from the openers," Ravi Shastri said. "They are treating Shaheen and Naseem with respect. The ball is not coming on. They are leaving the good ones and rotating the strike."
Through the six-over powerplay the boundaries stayed quiet. Jaiswal and Samson ran hard, turning quiet pushes into twos and frustrating the Pakistani seamers.
At the end of the powerplay India were 38 for 0.
Once the fielding restrictions lifted, Babar introduced Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim. The pitch remained tacky for the spinners. The ball turned slowly but gripped, making driving through the line risky.
Samson played the anchor role with soft hands, stepping down to smother the spin and finding the gaps. Jaiswal matched the discipline. The partnership passed fifty. They absorbed the pressure.
Scoreboard pressure still built. The run rate sat around six an over.
In the tenth over Imad Wasim fired a flat delivery on middle and leg. Samson tried to create room and force it over extra cover. The ball gripped and stopped. He pushed with hard hands, sliced it high to long-off and Babar took a safe catch.
"Caught! Breakthrough for Pakistan," Harsha Bhogle called. "Sanju Samson tries to force the pace and pays the price. He leaves after a gritty innings that blunted the new ball and built the platform."
Samson walked off to a strong ovation. India were 62 for 1 after 9.3 overs.
"Incoming batsman… Virat Kohli!"
The roar was huge as Kohli left the dugout. Before he crossed the boundary Siddanth Deva stopped him.
"The ball is sticking, Virat. Take your time to settle and read the pace. Tell Yashasvi the foundation is secure. He has the green light to start hitting. He takes the risks now."
Kohli nodded. "Understood."
He jogged out, tapped gloves with Jaiswal and passed on the message.
"Sid says the foundation is set, Yash. I will anchor. You have the green light. Go after them."
Jaiswal had played against his natural game for nine overs. The moment the message arrived his expression changed.
Imad Wasim finished the tenth over. Jaiswal stepped across and swept hard to the square-leg boundary.
In the eleventh over Shadab Khan came on. Jaiswal attacked. He used the depth of the crease, waited for the flight and drove straight over the sight-screen for six. Two balls later he slog-swept another six into the stands.
"What an assault from the youngster," Ian Bishop said. "Jaiswal has shifted gears. Ten minutes ago he was playing Test cricket. Now he is taking the spinners apart. The message from the dressing room is clear: attack."
Jaiswal reached fifty in the twelfth over and raised his bat.
Babar brought Haris Rauf back. At 11.4 Rauf bowled a heavy 148 kmph short ball into the ribs. Jaiswal tried a flat-batted pull. The ball skidded on lower and faster. He was through the shot early, top-edged it and Fakhar Zaman took the catch at deep square leg.
"Caught in the deep! Rauf strikes," Ravi Shastri said. "Yashasvi Jaiswal's aggressive cameo ends. He perishes trying to lift the rate, but he has done a strong job and taken the fear out of the pitch."
Jaiswal left to a standing ovation. India were 98 for 2 after 11.4 overs.
"Incoming batsman… the Captain, Siddanth Deva!"
The crowd noise rose again as Deva walked out. He reached the middle and tapped gloves with Kohli.
"The ball is keeping low, Sid," Kohli said. "Rauf is bowling heavy into the deck. Hard to hit through the line."
"We do not hit through the line, Cheeks. We use their pace, run hard, and punish the bad lengths."
Deva faced his first ball from Rauf, a 145 kmph delivery on off stump. He offered a dead bat and defended.
Over the next four overs the pair produced a masterclass in batting on a slow pitch. They placed the ball into the gaps, ran hard and turned singles into twos, stretching the Pakistani fielders in the heat.
"This is a display of pure fitness," Ricky Ponting noted. "They are turning ones into twos and twos into threes through running between the wickets and putting pressure back on Babar without taking aerial risks."
As Deva settled he began to read the pace better. When Naseem bowled a slower off-cutter Deva waited, stepped back and sliced it over backward point for four. When Shaheen returned with a wide yorker Deva shuffled across and scooped it over fine leg for six. He scored at a high strike rate despite the conditions.
"He is making batting look easy," Ian Bishop said as Deva punched another length ball through the covers. "The pitch is stopping but Deva is finding the boundaries."
The stand took India past 140.
In the seventeenth over Mohammad Amir returned and bowled a wide slower ball outside off. Kohli stepped out looking for long-on but mistimed it. Babar settled under the catch.
"Caught in the deep! Virat Kohli falls," Ravi Shastri called. "He goes for the big shot and the slower ball does the job. A strong partnership ends, but Kohli has done his part."
Kohli left to a big ovation. India were 152 for 3 after 16.5 overs.
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Rishabh Pant joined Deva, grin in place.
"Time to have some fun, Skip?"
"Green light, Rishabh. Do not hold back. I will hold the other end."
The final three overs became an exhibition of clean striking.
Deva controlled the death overs. At 18.2 he anticipated Shaheen's yorker, stepped back, turned it into a half-volley and drove it flat over the bowler's head into the sight-screen. At 19.4 Rauf bowled a 148 kmph bouncer. Deva stood tall, rode the bounce and smashed it over mid-wicket for six.
Pant added a reverse-scoop that broke the field. The Pakistani seamers had few answers. On the last ball Deva whipped a full delivery through square leg and ran two.
Deva walked off unbeaten with a rapid half-century on a pitch where scoring had been hard.
India finished at 186 for 6 – a strong total on the slow New York surface.
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When Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan walked out to chase 187, the atmosphere inside Nassau County International Cricket Stadium tightened. The temporary stands still held their 34,000 voices, but the earlier energy had settled into a focused, expectant silence broken only by sporadic chants.
On the drop-in pitch that had already shown its character through the first innings, 187 was a demanding target.
Siddanth Deva took the field with the composure of a captain who had read the surface correctly. He handed the new white Kookaburra balls to Jasprit Bumrah and Arjun Tendulkar and set his field with care, keeping a slip in place and positioning fielders to cut off easy singles.
Bumrah opened from the Pavilion End. He hit a hard, back-of-a-length line from the first ball. The two-paced nature of the pitch did the rest. The ball skidded, stopped, and occasionally reared awkwardly.
Rizwan, usually so composed, found himself playing and missing repeatedly. He could not pick the pace off the surface.
Bumrah offered no width and no freebies. The opening over was a maiden. Scoreboard pressure arrived at once.
From the other end Arjun Tendulkar began his spell. The tall left-armer did not chase extreme pace. He concentrated on wrist position and release.
The overcast sky and residual moisture helped the ball move. Arjun pitched one full on a driving length just outside off stump.
Babar Azam saw the length, took a confident stride forward and shaped to drive through the covers. The ball swung late and dipped back into the right-hander.
Babar was squared up. The ball crashed into the front pad. A loud appeal went up. The umpire's finger followed. Babar reviewed, but ball-tracking showed three reds. Plumb LBW.
"What a delivery," Ravi Shastri called on the broadcast. "Arjun Tendulkar with the late inswing. Babar Azam completely beaten. India have the early breakthrough they wanted."
The stadium noise changed. First blood had been drawn, and the Pakistan captain was gone early. Rizwan was joined by the new batsman.
Deva did not push the field back. He kept a short mid-wicket, a catching cover and a slip in place. He was inviting the Pakistan batsmen to take the aerial route on a pitch that punished mistimed shots.
Rizwan and the new batsman tried to rebuild. Bumrah continued to bowl with the same relentless length. One ball held up, another skidded through. When Rizwan attempted to work a ball into the leg side he was beaten by the variable bounce and the edge flew just short of the slip.
Arjun returned for his second over and produced another late-swinging delivery that beat the outside edge. The required rate was already climbing.
In the middle overs Deva turned to Ravindra Jadeja. The left-arm spinner landed the ball on a length and darted it through with little flight. The pitch offered enough grip to make driving risky. Pakistan's middle order found themselves trapped between the need to score and the difficulty of timing the ball.
One batsman tried to work Jadeja across the line and was trapped LBW. Another attempted a sweep and top-edged a catch to short fine leg. Jadeja's spell was tight and accurate. The run rate continued to rise.
"Jadeja is doing exactly what is required," Ian Bishop noted from the commentary box. "Flat, accurate, and giving the batsmen nothing to work with. On this surface that is more than enough."
Arjun Tendulkar came back for a second spell. This time he mixed his lengths and introduced slower balls that gripped the tacky surface. One slower delivery was pushed early and looped to cover. Another was mis-timed into the outfield where a diving fielder completed the catch.
Pakistan's batting order was unravelling under the combined pressure of accurate bowling and aggressive field settings.
Rizwan remained at the crease, fighting to hold the innings together. He rotated the strike whenever he could and looked for the occasional boundary, but the gaps were hard to find.
Deva's fielders were sharp and the outfield was large. Whenever a batsman tried to clear the infield the ball either held up or skidded, producing the false shot.
Another wicket fell when a batsman, under pressure from the rising required rate, attempted a big shot against Bumrah and was caught at mid-off.
By the fifteenth over the required rate had climbed past twelve runs an over. Pakistan needed boundaries, yet the pitch continued to deny clean timing.
Deva brought Bumrah back for a late spell. The champion seamer returned to the same hard length and then produced the yorkers that have become his trademark.
One full delivery crashed into the base of middle stump. Another was dug out for a single that brought little relief. The remaining batsmen swung hard but found only the outer half of the bat or the leading edge.
Ricky Ponting observed from the box, "India have controlled every phase here. The fields have stayed attacking, the lengths have been precise, and the batsmen have been forced into mistakes. This is a complete bowling performance on a difficult pitch."
Arjun Tendulkar completed his allocation with another cleverly disguised slower ball that was lofted straight to long-on.
Jadeja finished his spell with figures that reflected control rather than spectacular numbers. The Pakistan lower order had no answer to the combination of pace, accuracy and the awkward bounce of the surface.
In the final overs the chase became a formality. Bumrah produced two more unplayable yorkers that shattered the stumps. The last few deliveries were defended or edged for singles that no longer mattered. When the twentieth over ended, Pakistan had reached 113 for 7.
The Indian players converged on the pitch in a wave of blue. High-fives and brief embraces marked the end of a clinical performance.
Siddanth Deva walked among the Pakistan batsmen and offered quiet handshakes. There was no celebration directed at the opposition, only the calm satisfaction of a plan executed.
The bowling unit had used the conditions perfectly.
Bumrah had been unplayable at both ends of the innings. Arjun Tendulkar had delivered the early breakthrough and returned with slower balls that extracted further wickets. Jadeja had strangled the middle overs. The field settings had remained aggressive throughout, forcing Pakistan to take risks they could not afford on a two-paced pitch.
As the players left the field the stadium announcer called the presentation party to the pitch. The Man of the Match award was given to Yashasvi Jaiswal. His fifty in the first innings, built with early restraint and then released into calculated aggression after the message from the dugout, had set the platform on a pitch where timing was never easy.
The young opener had shown the maturity to blunt the new ball and the confidence to shift gears when asked. The trophy was presented in front of the remaining crowd, and Jaiswal raised it briefly before joining his teammates.
The contest between the two sides on American soil had ended with a clear margin, and the individual recognition underlined the contribution that had shaped the total India successfully defended.