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'We'll find out when we...': Starc aims 'fresh or old' dig days after IND vs NZ pitch row in World Cup semi-final
There were accusations of the pitch and conditions at the Wankhede Stadium being readjusted to suit India ahead of their semi-final against New Zealand.
It will be Australia and India who will face off the 2023 World Cup title come Sunday in Ahmedabad. This is the eighth World Cup final for Australia and the fourth for India and it will be the second time that the two sides play each other in the summit clash of the tournament after 2003. While Australia had gone into that match as the favourites back then in Johannesburg, and went on to justify that tag by thrashing India by 125 runs. However, India hold the favourites tag this time around, despite Australia looking like a strong side, as they have hardly been challenged by any team in this tournament and are yet to be beaten.
There have been quite a few accusations that have come from different quarters of malpractices being deployed to ensure that India have an advantage. The latest of those was the allegation that the pitch at the Wankhede Stadium, where India beat New Zealand in the semi-finals, was changed to one that was used earlier in the tournament to play to the hosts' advantage. The International Cricket Council (ICC) did admit that it had indeed been changed but only after consulting with the ICC's independent pitch consultant and said that such planned pitch rotations are common towards the end of events of such lengths.
While concerns have also been raised about whether the pitch in Ahmedabad will also face such a situation but the players themselves don't seem too perturbed by the entire incident. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said that their defeat was down to the fact that India were clinical and a better side than them on the night while Australia fast bowling ace Mitchell Starc took a cheeky dig after their victory over South Africa in the other semi-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
"I guess we'll find out when we get to Ahmedabad tomorrow and see if it's a fresh wicket or an old wicket," Starc told reporters when asked about whether Australia have any concerns over the fact that they struggled to chase down a target of 213 against South Africa.
'Nice to see ball dominate bat sometimes'
Starc and Josh Hazlewood had made merry at the Eden Gardens, blowing away the South African top four in the first 12 overs at the Eden Gardens. He said that while he was slightly surprised that there was so much help early on for the Australian fast bowlers, Starc said that it was nice that for once this was a match in which bowlers reigned supreme in a tournament that have seen a number of huge scores.
"I'm certainly not going to say I'm one to read pitches and know what they do. I mean training here the last few days, the practice wicket certainly turned a lot. From all reports I think the wicket we played on has been used a few times so no surprise that it did turn. Probably a little surprising that it did seam around a little bit whilst I said before it was pretty inconsistent pace wise, I think average first inning scores here have been sort of around 300 mark or a little bit higher. So yeah, a little bit surprising but you know sometimes it's nice to see ball dominate bat sometimes," he said
“Yeah, it was obviously pretty bare wicket. I'm not sure if it was slightly tougher to start with the bat due to being under covers for some amount of time, I'm not sure how long. We probably saw it was very, very inconsistent pace whilst it did probably nip a little bit, there was a little bit of swing. I think the inconsistencies made it tough to bat on with that first 10 overs that we bowled. So, I think looking at Josh's pitch map, that's what he does so well in Test match bowling. He was incredible today and the way we run off each other to have that power play that we did and carry some momentum through the middle was how we want to start matches so it was nice to do it in a big game.”
