The Indian cricket team is currently riding high after their 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. Rohit Sharma and his men ended an 11-year drought for an ICC title by defeating South Africa in the final. However, the situation was completely different a few months ago. India, seemingly invincible until that stage, lost to Australia in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup in Ahmedabad. To add to the disappointment, former India star Mohammad Kaif later claimed that the pitch had been deliberately made slow.
“I was there for three days. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid inspected the pitch every day for three days ahead of the final. They stood beside the pitch for an hour each day. I saw the pitch change its color. There was no watering, no grass on the track. India wanted to give Australia a slow track. This is the truth, even if people don’t want to believe it,” Kaif said in an interview with Lallantop.
Now, Vikram Rathour, the ex-batting coach of the Indian cricket team who was present for both the 2014 T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup, has broken his silence on the issue.
“I’ve heard this story that the pitch was different, which I don’t agree with at all. We played on similar wickets in the earlier matches as well. Matches against Australia, Pakistan, and England were also played on slow pitches. The Ahmedabad pitch, however, eased out,” Rathour told Sportstar.
India’s captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first. Australia’s Pat Cummins, on the other hand, was happy to bowl first, knowing that the pitch was likely to improve as the day progressed.
“The feeling was that Australia had Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, so India wanted to provide a slow pitch, and that was our mistake. Many people say that curators do their own thing and we don’t influence them – that is rubbish. When you are moving around the pitch, you only need to say two lines: please don’t put water, just reduce the grass. This happens. That is the truth. And it should be done. You are playing at home. And we did it a little too much,” Kaif added.