Australia captain Pat Cummins has raised concerns about the pitch for Sunday’s World Cup final in Ahmedabad as his side prepare to chase a sixth title against overwhelming favourites India.
Inspecting the wicket on Saturday morning, Cummins made his feelings clear to ground staff about both ends of the strip, where India’s world-class spinners will be operating. Curators began rolling the pitch following their conversation.
Cummins played a straight bat when later asked about the surface, saying it had been used for a previous match. He said Australia would wait to see how the wicket presented on game day before selecting their team.
“I’m not a great pitch reader, but it looks pretty firm,” Cummins said. “It’s only just been watered, so we’ll give it 24 hours to have another look. But it looks like pretty good.”
There was controversy before Wednesday’s semi-final between India and New Zealand in Mumbai when the Daily Mail reported a leaked email from the International Cricket Council’s independent pitch consultant Andy Atkinson claiming direct interference in pitch selection.
The ICC subsequently confirmed to this masthead that the pitch had been changed by the local curator, adding it was not unusual for that to happen in such a long tournament.
Pat Cummins points out his concerns with the pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday.Credit: Getty
Atkinson spent some time in the centre of Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday talking to ground staff and having an informal chat with the match umpires, who also spent some time in the middle of the ground.
More than 700 runs were scored during Wednesday’s semi-final, compared to a little over 400 in Australia’s tense semi-final victory over South Africa on Thursday. The pitch at Kolkata’s Eden gardens was well worn, offering spinners considerable help, although it gave Australia’s opening bowlers early assistance after sweating under the covers.
Mitchell Starc (3-34) and Josh Hazlewood (2-12) were outstanding, reducing South Africa to 4-24, and Cummins believes they will again be pivotal to Australia’s chances in the final against an undefeated India. Australia have won their past eight matches.
“Their opening [bowling] partnership is going to be a big one for us,” Cummins said. “You saw what impact they had on the game when they bowled the other night, so they’re both big-game players. They’ve played in a few ICC [tournament] finals now, so they know what it takes.”
Mitchell Starc again looms as a key player with the ball and bat.Credit: AP
The state of the pitch will have a key bearing on team selection, with Marnus Labuschagne preferred to Marcus Stoinis in Kolkata where the pitch suggested runs would be at a premium – which was proved correct.
However, if the Ahmedabad pitch presents as firm and flat after its final preparation, the occasional seam bowling and hard-hitting lower-order batting of Stoinis becomes a more attractive option.
A spinning pitch means Australia will be able to use the part-time off-spin of Travis Head alongside Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell. Head claimed wickets with successive deliveries against South Africa, finishing with 2-21 from five overs.
“The coaches and selectors will assess the wicket, so they’ll come down tonight, have a look and pick a team,” said Cummins, who said the Australians have a full squad of 15 to chose from again after going through much of the tournament carrying injuries.
India’s spinners are no strangers to the Australians, having faced them in a four-Test series earlier this year on mostly big-spinning pitches, and again during a three-match one-day series leading into this World Cup.
Australia played their first match of this tournament against India and were bowled out for 199, losing six wickets to spinners. Ravi Jadeja in particular was unplayable at times, claiming 3-28 from 10 overs.
“I don’t think we scored par, but we were potentially one catch away from being in front in that game,” Cummins said. Australia reduced India to 3-2 and dropped Virat Kohli early in his innings. He made 85.
The Australians will be met with a wall of noise by an excitedly partisan crowd in the 130,000-seat stadium, but “I think you’ve got to embrace it,” Cummins said.
“The crowd’s obviously going to be very one-sided, but in sport there’s nothing more satisfying than hearing a big crowd go silent. You just can’t get overwhelmed, you’ve got to be up for it, you’ve got to love it.”
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