Mumbai: The India-New Zealand semifinal attracted an unsavoury pitch controversy on the eve of the big match with allegations of the pitch being changed and tweaked at the behest of the Indian team management.
The ICC has no rules to state that a knockout fixture must be played on a fresh pitch. "It is expected that venues that are allocated the responsibility of hosting a match will present the best possible pitch and outfield conditions for that match," is all that the rulebook states.
As per a report in The Daily Mail, the semifinal, initially scheduled to be played on Pitch No. 7, the middle stretch at the Wankhede stadium, was shifted to Pitch No. 6 on a request made by the team management. Coach Rahul Dravid had a long look at the pitch late evening yesterday.
The report also mentioned that a request to shave off the grass was also made right after the last league match India played against the Dutch in Bengaluru on Diwali day.
While two league stage matches, including the India-Sri Lanka one in which India won by a margin of 302 runs, were played on Pitch No 6, Pitch No 7 is a fresh stretch on which no World Cup matches have been played thus far.
As per the ICC Playing manual for the World Cup, the relevant ground authority is "responsible for the selection and preparation of the pitch" before any given match. The Wankhede is the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). The ICC also have an independent pitch consultant, Andy Atkinson, who works with local ground staff.
The Daily Mail carried a leaked email by Atkinson in which he expressed his displeasure at the late change. "As a result of these actions, one must speculate if this will be the first ever ICC CWC [World Cup] final to have a pitch that 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. Or will it be selected or prepared without favouritism for either of the sides competing in the match in the usual manner, and unquestionably because it is the usual pitch for the occasion?” the mail by Atkinson reads.
This will not be the first time that a knockout match will be played on a used pitch. Both the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinals –at Adelaide Oval and the Sydney Cricket Ground – were played on used pitches.
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) in a statement issued said, "Changes to planned pitch rotations are common towards the end of an event of this length, and has already happened a couple of times. This change was made on the recommendations of the venue curator in conjunction with our host. The ICC independent pitch consultant was apprised of the change and has no reason to believe the pitch won't play well. "
There is no word from the New Zealand team about any issues around the pitch. Kane Williamson and his team managers had inspected the pitch on match evening, while Dravid looked at it under the lights.
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