Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid accused of ‘staging’ pitch for India vs Australia World Cup final: ‘They came in the evening…’ Cricket

November 19: This day is etched in the collective memory of Indian cricket fans as a moment of great heartbreak and missed opportunities. It was on this day that a billion dreams were shattered as Rohit Sharma’s team suffered a lopsided defeat to Australia in the ODI World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Up until this moment, India had been unstoppable and had been on a glorious 10-game winning streak. For a team desperate to end their ICC title drought since 2013, the match held the promise of redemption and a chance for another shot at global glory. However, fate had a cruel twist in store. The opponent that started their winning streak would later be their undoing in the most painful way. For Rohit and his teammates, it was a shocking end to a journey fueled by the dream of winning a World Cup.

With Pat Cummins opting to bat first, optimism soared among India supporters after hearing Rohit’s assertion that “I would have batted first”. But as the day progressed, the harsh reality set in and it became clear why the Australian captain chose to ignore the convention of batting first in a high-pressure match.

On a slow wicket, Australia’s bowlers were formidable and dominated the hosts, restricting them to just 240 runs. As the evening approached, conditions looked more favorable for the batsmen and the woes increased as Australia chased down the target with ease, buoyed by Travis Head’s sublime 137.

The next day there was a huge debate over the nature of the pitch for the World Cup final. Many believed that the slowness of the pitch was one of the main reasons for India’s failure, as India had won brilliantly on competitive wickets during the World Cup. But earlier this week, former India batsman Mohammed Kaif, who was part of the tournament’s broadcast team, spoke out about the role of Rohit and head coach Rahul Dravid in preparing the pitch for the big final. I made an exposure.

Kaif claimed that the star duo visited the pitch on all three days leading up to the World Cup final and saw the “color” of the pitch keep changing.

“We were there for three days and did a lot of shows. Rohit Sharma came in the evening with Dravid, went to the pitch, stood there for an hour and went back. They came again on the second day and did the same thing. This went on for 3 days and I saw the pitch change color. Today I was wearing a blue shirt, but after 3 days it will look yellow…the change is about that much. I did,” Kaif revealed. newsroom guest upon Lalan top.

“No watering, no grass. It was a very slow pitch. That’s the truth. We had Cummins and Starc, they bowled fast, we thought we were going to give them a slow pitch and we made a mistake there. People. says. “The curator did his job, we didn’t say anything.” sab bhakvaas hai (It’s all garbage). You were walking around there and talking to him a hundred times. “Ghas kum karo, paani kum darna”, line hai toh borni hain. (Don’t use too much grass, don’t water too much, say 2 lines is enough). There’s nothing wrong with that, you’re the home team, take advantage of it. But we couldn’t utilize it properly,” said the former India batsman.

Cummins learned from Chennai game

Kaif believes the Australian captain has learned from his team’s defeat against India in the World Cup opener in Chennai. Australia batted first in that match but were bowled out for just 199. India chased the target with over eight overs remaining.

“Cummins learned from the first match against India in Chennai. He took the lead with his toss and batting and India won the match easily in the run chase. In the final, teams usually do not choose to field. 2003 He also did that but lost. But Cummins learned from that and chased regardless of the situation,” Kaif said.

“If it was a normal pitch… if Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav were in form… they had great touch!” If it was a flat pitch, we would have won 100%. It would have been. Ham wicket me docting karne ke Chakkar me phas gaye (We tampered with the wicket and that led to our loss),” Kaif concluded.