Less than 12 hours before the India vs New Zealand World Cup 2023 semi-final is to kick off at the Wankhede stadium, the English journalist Lawrence Booth ran a report on The Daily Mail accusing the BCCI of forcing a switch in the pitch for the semi-final from a fresh surface to a used one.
The report alleged the BCCI, saying: “The Cricket World Cup has been plunged into an astonishing row amid claims the Indian board have switched the pitch for their team’s semi-final on Wednesday against New Zealand in Mumbai without the ICC’s permission. And they could do the same if India reach Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad”.
It is believed by the English media and the non-Indians that a used pitch will favor the Indian spinners – Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
But they conveniently ignore two facts: that the Indian pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Siraj is already the best and in-form pace attack in the tournament; and that New Zealand themselves have quality spinners in Santner and Sodhi, along with part-time spinners Rachin Ravindra, Phillips, and Chapman. This renders their argument that a spinning track would favor India bogus.
The report said that the BCCI used their power and might to move the semi-final match from a fresh, unused pitch to a side pitch that has been used twice in the tournament already.
It is learned that the ICC’s independent pitch consultant, Andy Atkinson, has been told that “there is an unspecified problem with pitch No 7”, which had previously been planned to be used for the semi-final, but now the match will be played on pitch number 6, on which two matches have been played already.
These allegations and their opinions that the BCCI has made this forced switch of the pitch to help the Indian team attracted a huge amount of trolling and criticism for the English journalist.
Here are some Indian fans slamming the English media for accusing BCCI:
