The blockbuster India vs Pakistan clash at the T20 World Cup 2024 is scheduled to be played at the Nassau County International Stadium in New York on June 9.
Ahead of the big match, former Australian cricketer and wrist spinner, Brad Hogg took to social media to do a quick preview of the teams at the end of the first week.
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In a video post on X, Hogg discussed the performances and concerns for each team, ahead of the remaining games in the group stages of the tournament.
What did Brad Hogg say about Team India's chances for T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight?
Former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg while previewing all the different groups in the T20 World Cup 2024, took a particular interest in Group A consisting of USA, Canada, India, Pakistan, and Ireland.
Hogg said that this edition of the tournament has been competitive, leading to greater successes for the associate teams against the bigger countries.
"Conditions have brought the associate nations closer in the contests against the Test playing nations," he said.
The wrist spinner took a dig at Pakistan's performances but hailed the co-host USA's unbeaten run in the World Cup so far, calling it a good thing for cricket, saying: "Pakistan have not shown up, getting beaten by the USA. The USA have two wins on the trot, which is a good thing for cricket moving forward."
Regarding Ireland, he did not have high hopes for them qualifying for the next stages. "Ireland are out of the contest after getting beaten by Canada."
However, the highlight of the video was his opinion that India might be hampering their Super Eight chances by spending too much time in the Big Apple aka New York City. Hogg said:
"There are problems for India, not having proper training conditions in New York and spending a lot of time in the Big Apple as well. It could play a part in their preparations as well going into the Super Eight phase."
The former Australian cricketer suggested that Team India have not been focusing entirely on their task at hand, which is winning the T20 World Cup but have instead been seduced away by the temptations of the big city.
Have the Indian players been spending too much time in New York City?
New York is a new destination as far as cricket is concerned. The USA is hosting a cricket tournament of this stature for the very first time and the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, in Long Island, is the venue for the crucial India vs Pakistan clash.
Team India has been based in New York ever since their arrival to USA. They played their warm-up game against Bangladesh and will play the first three group matches in the city.
And the Indian players have been about town exploring the latest cricket destination. Whether it will affect their preparation for the T20 World Cup knockouts, only time will tell.
Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah shared pictures of his time spent with his partner, Sanjana Ganesan, on the sets of the hit sitcom show, F.R.I.E.N.D.S, in New York:
The southpaw allrounder Shivam Dube was seen on the streets of New York:
The Indian captain Rohit Sharma himself shared his time spent at the "Big Apple" New York City:
Team India's wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant in New York, for a coffee with pacer Mohammad Siraj and left-arm spinner Axar Patel:
Even the youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was on the bench for the opener against Ireland has been quite active from the first day in sharing his time spent at Garden City in New York:
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