Ahead of the Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final between New Zealand and India, a controversy erupted over allegations of a last-minute change in pitch at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s instance. A report claimed that the Indian board decided to go with 'used pitch' for the semi-final encounter, while a 'fresh pitch' was supposed to be put into play earlier. Multiple former cricketers have reacted to the story, giving varied views on the matter. The International Cricket Council (ICC) said it is nothing new nor uncommon. "Changes to planned pitch rotations are common towards the end of an event of this length, and has already happened a couple of times," the ICC told Cricbuzz on Wednesday. "This change was made on the recommendation 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 are no clauses with regards to selection of pitch strips. "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," a source in the knowledge said.Both semifinals at last year's T20 World Cup were played on used surfaces while the 2019 World Cup semifinals were played on fresh tracks. As per clause 6.3 of the Playing Conditions for this World Cup, the 'Ground Authority shall be responsible for the selection and preparation of the pitch.' The authority in this case being the Mumbai Cricket Association, whose curators will have worked in synergy with ICC's independent pitch consultant - Andy Atkinson. Atkinson, it was reported by The Daily Mail, was frustrated by the decision to veer away from existing plan of using a fresh pitch for this game, suggesting in a leaked email that Sunday's final in Ahmedabad "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. A report in the Indian Express also stated that the BCCI insisted on a 'slow pitch' for the semi-final against New Zealand.
Indian cricket great Sunil Gavaskar, reacting to the controversy, said: "The pitch is there for all the teams, so I don't think there should be too much discussion on what this pitch will do or not do. I do believe that this Indian team is perfectly capable of handling any kind of surface. Having you seen that in the tournament so far. And if it's a drier pitch, which is likely to be the case simply because the rains have gone. So there will be there is no hint of any moisture." "Yes, there will be one which there might be just a little bit of spin, no question about it. But the Mumbai pitch is generally very good for bating, so I don't think there should be too much of an issue. With the kind of bowling that we have, bowlers who have bowled superbly, whether they are bowling first or second, I don't think the pitch would be too much of an issue at all." "I think this is typically, you know, on the eve of the match when you have nothing to write about and then, you know, you try to say something because you want to fill in your columns, you want to talk about pitches and stuff like that. To me, it doesn't make a difference. If the pitch changes after the toss, they certainly have a conversation. But if the pitch is the same before the toss, I don't think any noise should be made at all," said Gavaskar on India Today.
