Team India coach blames Ahmedabad pitch for World Cup 2023 Loss: After nearly a fortnight of Team India’s painful ICC ODI World Cup 2023 loss to Australia in Ahmedabad, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to seek accountability for the loss from the Indian management. The reports assert that head coach Rahul Dravid along with captain Rohit Sharma was subjected to questioning from the BCCI officials for the team’s abysmal show in the Final on November 19.
As reported by Dainik Jagran, the BCCI during its selection meeting in Delhi for India’s all-format squads for the South Africa series, hurled questions at Indian management. The meeting was attended by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, Treasurer Ashish Shelar, Vice-President Rajiv Shulka, head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma.
Rahul Dravid, who has been reportedly provided with an extension until the next T20 World Cup, reportedly blamed the pitch used at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad as one of the reasons why Team India couldn’t defeat Australia in the World Cup 2023 Final on November 19. He added that the team didn’t expect the surface to remain dull and it didn’t turn as much as they had anticipated.
The curators had prepared a used surface for the IND vs AUS WC Final. It was the same pitch in which India defeated Pakistan during the league stages. The Men in Blue defeated Pakistan in that fixture quite comfortably, and one of the reasons for that victory was the toss going in favour of the hosts.
IND vs AUS: Australia had better plans to counter India in World Cup 2023 Final
However, during the India vs Australia fixture, the rub of the green was with Pat Cummins who won the toss and decided to do exactly what India did against Pakistan in the league stages. Although Indian captain Rohit Sharma during the toss asserted that his team was anyway looking to bat first, the decision turned out to be poor.
Australia tangled India with their precise strategies and smart moves. Despite the brisk start provided by the Indian captain, the surface had enough for the bowlers to keep India’s scoring rate low throughout the contest. Team India could only manage 240 runs in the ICC World Cup 2023 Final in 50 overs.
In the batting department, Australia knew that they had a below-par total to chase and the pressure was always going to be on the opposition. Though the hosts managed to pick a few initial breakthroughs, the partnership between Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne did the trick for Australia as they defeated India by six wickets to clinch yet another World Cup title.
The report also added that on the advice of a local curator a used pitch was prepared. There is no specific rule that the knockout matches must only have a fresh pitch, but usually, fresh pitches are used for the crucial games. But for some strange reasons, in India, all the knockout games of the World Cup 2023 were held on the used surfaces.
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