Changed pitch? Criticism to India for micromanaging the World Cup’s “neutral” pitches. India has been charged with micromanaging the pitch conditions for their World Cup campaign, which includes changing the surface for their semi-final match against New Zealand on Wednesday in Mumbai and the final match on Sunday, should Rohit Sharma’s team advance.
The Indian team management has reportedly changed the surface for tonight’s game to a slower, lower strip that will make life more difficult for New Zealand’s elite seam bowlers. This is in keeping with their recent trend of searching for the best surfaces for their trio of elite spin bowlers, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Pitch six, a strip that has already been used for two matches, will now host the match instead of pitch seven, a brand-new surface that hasn’t been utilized during the tournament yet.
There are concerns regarding the neutrality of the pitch for the championship game after an email from Andy Atkinson, the independent pitch specialist for the International Cricket Council. Andy oversees preparation for international competitions to make sure they provide an equal playing surface.
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“Due to these measures, it is reasonable to wonder if this will be the first-ever ICC CWC [World Cup] final with a pitch that has been hand-picked and prepared according to their specifications at the request of the team management and/or the home nation board hierarchy,” Atkinson wrote in an email obtained by The Daily Mail.
“Or, since it’s the customary pitch for the occasion, will it be chosen or prepared without favoritism for any of the teams playing in the match in the customary manner?”
India’s coach Rahul Dravid traveled directly from the airport to Wankhede Stadium on Monday in Mumbai with other support personnel in order to have a lengthy and animated conversation regarding the surface with the venue’s ground crew.
India was determined to win this World Cup, as they had not triumphed in any white-ball event on home soil since 2011. They went through the qualification rounds unbeaten.
