Was the World Cup final pitch tampered with? Rahul Dravid’s Indian cricket coaching team breaks silence

The Indian cricket team is currently on the cusp of their 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. Rohit Sharma and his men ended an 11-year ICC title drought by defeating South Africa in the final. However, a few months ago the situation was completely different. India, seemingly invincible until that stage, lost to Australia in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup in Ahmedabad. If the defeat wasn’t enough, a few months later, former Indian star Mohammad Kaif said the pitch was deliberately slow.

“I stayed there for three days. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid inspected the pitch every day for 3 days before the final. They stood next to the pitch for an hour every day. I saw the pitch change color. There was no way to water the field, field, 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 Lallantop in an interview.

Now, Viram Rathour, former batting coach of the Indian cricket team, who was there in both the 2014 T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup, has broken his silence on the matter.

“I heard a story that the pitch was different, which I don’t agree with. We played with similar wickets in the previous matches as well. The matches against Australia, Pakistan and England were also played on slow pitches. The Ahmedabad pitch, however, diminished ” said Rathour Sports star.

It was Indian captain Rohit Sharma who won the toss and chose to bat first. Australia’s Pat Cummins, on the other hand, was happy to bowl first, knowing the pitch would likely improve as the day went on.

“The feeling was that Australia had Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, so India wanted to take a slow approach, and that was our mistake. A lot of people say the curators do their own thing and we don’t influence – that’s rubbish. When you are moving around the field – you have to say just two lines – please don’t add water, just reduce the grass. And you are playing at home a little too much.