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Indian Cricket Board slams reports alleging change of pitch before ODI World Cup 2023 semi-finals
The Indian Cricket Board has issued a strong rebuttal to reports of the match pitch being changed. The news was carried by the Daily Mail ahead of the first semi-final game between India and New Zealand in Mumbai.
It was widely reported that the playing surface was reverted to a used surface instead of a fresh one. This news created lots of controversy just hours before the big game could get underway at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
The Wankhede Stadium pitch has seen huge scores being put up during the ODI World Cup 2023. There has been help for fast bowlers under lights which has seen Sri Lanka in particular get bowled out for 55 runs against India.
Indian Cricket Board sets the record straight –
The Indian Cricket Board has slammed reports suggesting that the pitch was changed at the ‘Last Minute’ ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023 semi-finals. Daily Mail had been reached out by a spokesperson from the Indian Cricket Board after the latest news came to light.
The spokesperson said “The Apex Cricket Body’s independent pitch consultant works with the host and the venues on their proposed pitch allocations and this process is ongoing throughout an event of this length and nature”
Daily Mail had reported that Pitch number seven which is a new surface was to be used for the India versus New Zealand game. There was an apparent last-minute change of schedule as there were some “problems with the pitch number 7” as reported by the English newspaper.
It is also being reported that Pitch number six will be the surface where the game will be played. It is the same pitch that played host to the England versus South Africa and India versus Sri Lanka games. On both occasions, teams batting first scored above 350 runs and went on to win with comfortable margins.
The head of the pitch curators for the Apex Cricket Body, Andy Atkinson has shot an angry e-mail. This comes just days before the pitch allocation for the final game of the ODI World Cup 2023 tournament which is to be held in Ahmedabad on the 19th of November.