World Cup 2023: The ‘changed’ pitch for the final could be on the slower side

Rohit Mahajan

Ahmedabad, November 17

Inside the awe-inspiring stadium — reminiscent of the big ones in Melbourne or China — the focus is on the pitch for the final. Rahul Dravid, chief Indian coach, spent a lot of time giving it a serious look-over in the company of batting coach Vikram Rathour and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey.

The coaches and Indian captain Rohit Sharma stood by pitch-side for long, and had a long conversation with BCCI’s chief of ground staff Ashish Bhowmick and his deputy Taposh Chatterjee.

A heavy roller was used on the pitch designated for the final, indicating that the surface would be on the slower side, and the spinners could play a role in the second innings.

The portly Andy Atkinson, the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) pitch consultant, was conspicuous by his absence. He is reported to have left the country following the end of his assignment for the World Cup.

Atkinson, it may be recalled, had suggested that many matches in the tournament had not been played on pitches designated for them; more seriously, in an email to the ICC, he had expressed the apprehension that the pitch for the final could be changed to suit the home team.

Atkinson, it’s reported, wanted the final to be played on pitch No. 5, used only once previously in the tournament; but he feared that it could be moved to pitch No. 6, which shows signs of wear and tear as two matches have been played on it. This switch could help India’s superior spinners; it must be noted, too, that Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa has picked up 22 wickets, six more than Ravindra Jadeja and seven more than Kuldeep Yadav. How will he fare against India’s batters, especially Shreyas Iyer? The India No. 4 has simply annihilated spin specialists, hitting 24 sixers in 10 innings, most of them against the spinners.

Atkinson has expressed the apprehension that “one must speculate if this will be the first ever ICC CWC final to have a pitch which has been specifically chosen and prepared to their stipulation at the request of the team management and/or the hierarchy of the home nation board”.

Meanwhile, former captain Sunil Gavaskar has criticised the doubters, saying: “Even if the pitch was changed, it was there before the toss for both the teams. It wasn’t changed in the mid-innings. It wasn’t changed after the toss was done. The pitch was the same for both teams.”

The ICC later confirmed that the semifinal in Mumbai wasn’t played on the designated pitch, adding that Atkinson had been informed of the change. It was reported that the Indian team management had asked the BCCI’s curators to shave grass off the pitch — if true, this would seriously dent the image of Dravid among his peers; among fans and the public in general, the former captain enjoys an impeccable reputation, which is likely to remain unsullied, though.