According to former great cricketers Ricky Ponting, Michael Vaughan, and Nasser Hussain. India’s use of a manipulated pitch may have played a major role in their elimination from the World Cup this year. The same deck was use in the 2023 World Cup Final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Where India easily defeated archrival Pakistan by 7 wickets with over 19 overs remaining.
After winning the toss, Australia captain Pat Cummins took the audacious move of bowling first. A move that puzzled top experts and cricket enthusiasts worldwide. Still, his choice turned out to be highly significant because batting under lights get easier and easier. And dew took center stage, making players like Kuldeep and Jadeja useless.
Pitch saga hits back at Team India
After Australia’s decisive victory in the World Cup final, experts and former cricket players started to speculate about whether the home team had any influence over pitch preparations for the highly anticipated match.
Ricky Ponting, the captain of the two-time World Cup winning team, responded quickly. Ponting said in an interview with Fox Sports that the pitch, which was specifically designe for the hosts, greatly backfired.
“It was very, very sub-continental conditions today. A wicket preparation that has probably ended up backfiring on India to be totally fair.”
Former cricket players Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain, who captained England in the past, also shared their insights on this topic. Vaughan state that Australia has great control over the conditions. Then India did, but Hussain believe that India’s attempt to protect its weak middle order was a major factor in why the pitch went against them.
“Strategically they are a very clever team. They’ve clearly got a very clever think tank. However I don’t think they are a 320 side, they are a 280 side and preparing a pitch like this gave Australia a chance. They did exactly what Pat Cummins said they would, they’ve silenced the crowd. They’ve done it in great fashion. I don’t know anyone who thought the game would be done in 43 overs with Australia coasting to the target.”
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