Irfan Pathan shares clip of drop-in pitch, explains how it is used

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan is making the most of his time in New Zealand. One of the finest allrounders to have played for India, Irfan Pathan is now busy commentating in international games after announcing his retirement a couple of weeks ago. He is currently in New Zealand as a part of the commentary panel and the ex-cricketer is making the most of it.

On Saturday, he posted a picture of himself along with New Zealand star Trent Boult as the two along with Star Sports anchor Jatin Sapru jumped from the famous sky tower. And on Sunday morning, Pathan posted a video from New Zealand in which he was seen describing the details about a drop-in pitch with the help of ground staff at the Eden Park in Auckland.

Pathan introduced the fans to the ground staff before asking the latter to describe the drop-in pitch and the latter duly obliged. He showed the pitch which was outside the stadium and is set to be placed in the ground later.

Here is the Instagram post from Irfan Pathan:

View this post on Instagram

Special insite for the fans to know from the wonderful stadium @edenparknz @nicksautner

A post shared by Irfan Pathan (@irfanpathan_official) on Jan 25, 2020 at 9:16pm PST

India, meanwhile, have started their tour of New Zealand on a fine note as they won the first T20I of the five-match series by six wickets. Asked to bat first, New Zealand posted a mammoth total of 203 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs. In reply, India chased down the total in 19 overs to take the lead in the series.

What is a drop-in pitch?

The drop-in pitch is exactly what it sounds like. It is a pitch created away from the ground or venue hosting the match before being ‘dropped’ inside the stadium. Perth’s famous WACA Stadium was the first-ever venue to use a drop-in pitch. The drop-in pitch has several advantages over the traditional pitches.

One of those advantages is the multi-purpose use of a stadium in which it is being utilized. The drop-in pitch allows a cricket venue to be used for other sporting events and musical concerts. Auckland’s Eden Park is used not only for cricket but for rugby and other purposes as well. The drop-in pitch is also easy to modify at any stage.