"India Wanted To Give Australia Slow Track" - Mohammad Kaif Reignites Debate On ICC ODI World Cup 2023 Final Pitch

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Many experts hit back at comments on the pitches used in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, saying the host country has no say in what kind of wicket is prepared for the games. However, four months after the tournament, former India cricketer has reignited the debate about the pitch.

Mohammad Kaif has made a stratling revelation about the pitch used for the India vs Australia World Cup 2023 Final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023.

India, who were on a ten-match unbeaten streak in the show-piece tournament, had suffered a heartbreaking loss against the Australian side on a sluggish pitch in Ahmedabad on November 19.

Rohit Sharma-led Indian team faltered with the bat in the final, resulting in a 6-wicket loss to Pat Cummins' Australia. Sent to bat first, India could manage just 240 runs and in response Australia chased the target down in 43 overs, thanks to a Travis Head century.

There was already some debate on the kind of pitch prepared for the final even before the title clash as the ICC 's pitch consultant Andy Atinkson had left the ODI World Cup with the British media reports suggesting it was due to his differences with the BCCI on the pitch being swapped just before a game.

A few days later, the ICC rated the Ahmedabad pitch as "average". Now, in an exclusive interview to Lallantop, Kaif has said that the final's pitch was made slower by the BCCI curators to suit the Indian side.

"I was there for three days. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid inspected the pitch every day for 3 days ahead of the final. They stood beside the pitch for an hour every day," Kaif said on Lallantop.

"I saw the pitch change its colour. There was no watering the pitch, 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 further added that the presence of quicks like Cummins and Mitchell Starc may have prompted the idea of a slow pitch, but it tremendously back-fired on the home side.

"The feeling was that Australia had Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc, so India wanted to give a slow pitch, and that was our mistake. Many people say that curators do their own thing and we don't influence - that is rubbish," Kaif added.

"When you are moving around the pitch - you have to say just two lines - please don't put water, just reduce the grass. This happens. That is truth. And it should be done. You are playing at home. And we did it a little too much."