The Australian team is bracing for a trial by spin in the World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday (November 19). The 22 yards at the centre of the colossal venue that will play host to the ultimate ODI between India and Australia with the world title on the line received incessant attention throughout the day on the eve of the match. It started with multiple members of the Aussie camp, from players to coaches, scrutinising the surface before Rahul Dravid and his support staff did the same later in the day.
The main concern emerging post the scrutiny, from an Australian perspective anyway, was about the five-meter patch in front of the crease on both sides of the ground. The verdict was that these patches on both sides of the pitch had not been watered, or not to the same extent, anyway as the centre of the wicket. Leaving the Aussie camp quite convinced that the spinners would come into play a lot more than they have on a number of pitches seen during the tournament, and from early in the piece too.
While some likened the pitch here to the one that the Australians had played on during the third Test in Indore earlier this year, there was also a mention of the surface they encountered in Nagpur, even though that was a red-soil wicket. Australia had ironically won the Test in Indore, with Travis Head, who will open the innings on Sunday, having played a crucial hand in the run-chase on the final morning.
It must be said that the concerns from the visitors weren’t raised as a lament, but it was more a case of “we didn’t expect anything else” and didn’t seem to carry any shock or alarm. That will be crucial from a mind-set point of view if Australia do hope to challenge the might of this Indian team, who have looked impregnable throughout their campaign and have in most cases taken the pitch out of the equation by their excellence. Regardless of how they feel the surface will play, it’ll be in their best interests to not overthink it.
The pitch that will be used for the final will be the same as the one that the India-Pakistan match was played on over a month ago. That pitch had received an “average” rating by the ICC. The only other pitch incidentally to get the same “average” rating involved the India v Australia match at the start of the World Cup in Chennai. That was also the only match that R Ashwin had made an appearance in during this tournament. It will make for an interesting selection call from an Indian context if the wily veteran is brought back for the final, and be informative of how the hosts expect the pitch to play.
When asked about it during his press-conference earlier in the day, captain Pat Cummins had underplayed the pitch talk.
“Had a look. I’m not a great pitch reader. But it looked pretty firm. Looks like a pretty good wicket. I think it’s been some more high scores here throughout the tournament. It’s been a pretty good wicket. Used for India-Pakistan,” he’d said.
ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson and the entire group of match officials had spent a good while chatting with the groundstaff earlier in the morning while stood at the centre of the pitch. Umpire Richard Kettleborough, who will officiate alongside Richard Illingworth, seemed to be the most involved in these discussions, even staying back after the rest had left to point out certain parts of the pitch to the local curator.
From afar, once the covers were taken of, there seemed to be slightly different shades of green and brown across the surface of the pitch, slightly fresher in the middle than the ends. An observation that seemed to have caught the eye of the Australian camp as well, further leading to their belief that the spinners will play a huge role in the World Cup final in front of over 100,000 fans.
There had been some chatter about the pitch prior to the semi-final between India and New Zealand in Mumbai as well, with allegations of a switch being made on the orders from the home team’s camp. It didn’t seem to matter to Rohit Sharma and his team though as they piled on a massive total, as they’ve done so consistently, before seeing off a spirited challenge from New Zealand in the run-chase, courtesy their brilliant bowling-attack. And that’s what they’ll be looking to do one final time in what has been an indomitable run to the end.
