Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has dropped a bombshell as he has slammed skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid alleging that the team management meddled with the pitch for the World Cup 2023 final. Kaif, who was part of the Hindi commentary team for the final, said that he was there at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and he saw the pitch change within those three days as India asked for a slow pitch but that backfired for the Men in Blue as Australia won their sixth World Cup beating the hosts by six wickets in the summit clash.
Team India could post only 240 runs in the World Cup 2023 final and even though the Men in Blue had Australia three down for 47. However, post that it was all Travis Head show as the left-hander ensured heartbreak for the Indian fans in the finals twice in the same year after giving a player of the match performance in WTC final.
Speaking to The Lallantop on the pitch for the final, Kaif said, "Emotions the. 2003 mein inse (Australia) hum haare the. Main waha 3 din tha. Rohit Sharma shaam ko aaye, Dravid dono shaam ko aaye. Pitch pe gaye, ghume kaisi pitch hai. Ye 3 din lagatar hua hai aur maine pitch ka rang badalte hue dekha hai. Cummins hai Starc hai, inke pass tezz gendbaazi hai, toh inko naa slow pitch do aur waha galti hui. 100%. Chahe log kitna bhi bole ki curator apna kaam karta hai, hum kuch nahi bolte, bakwaas hai (Both Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid came in the evening to inspect the pitch. They stood behind the pitch for every hour for three days, and I saw the pitch changing its colour. 'They have Cummins and Starc, who are fast bowlers, so give them slow pitches' and that's where they faltered. People saying that the curator makes the pitch and no one has a say is just rubbish. This is the truth, even if people don't want to believe it)."
Kaif mentioned that the host country has every right to order the curator for whatever surface they would like, however, admitted that the Indian team did it too much and gave credit to the Australian skipper Pat Cummins for being brave enough to bowl first in a final and get the result in his team's favour.
"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," Kaif added. "Cummins took the learning from Chennai that batting is tough at the start in a slow match. Nobody fields first in a final, but Cummins did. We messed up while doctoring the pitch."
Apart from Virat Kohli's 54 following skipper Rohit Sharma's quickfire 47 off 31, no other batter offered much resistance. KL Rahul did score 66 runs but those came in 107 balls and didn't help the team's cause as the Men in Blue eventually bundled out for 240, which wasn't enough.
