According to earlier reports, the World Cup final pitch in Ahmedabad will be a used one. Mitchell Starc offered a sly commentary on the matter at a press conference.
The controversy surrounding the World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand began just before the game, when the Board of Control for Cricket India was accused of switching the surface at the last minute. The game ended up being a high-scoring match, with India winning. A used pitch for the match between Australia and South Africa was also used for the second semi-final. Mitchell Starc, the pacer, delivered a cheeky post-match interview after Australia narrowly prevailed against England.
Chasing a meek target of 213 runs, Australia didn’t look their best. During the run chase, they lost seven wickets. Starc responded with a somewhat cheeky remark when asked if he was worried about the final given the manner of the run-chase against South Africa.
“I suppose we’ll find out when we arrive in Ahmedabad tomorrow and see if it’s a new or old wicket,” a cheeky Starc remarked.
During the press conference, Starc was questioned regarding the type of pitch at Eden Gardens.
Indeed, it was evidently a somewhat barren patch. Being behind cover for a while—I’m not sure how long—might have made it a little harder to start with the bat. It did appear to nip a little bit, but there was also some swing, as we most likely observed in its wildly uneven speed. It was difficult to bat after our first ten overs of bowling, in my opinion, because of the inconsistent play. Josh bowls so well in Test matches because of this, in my opinion, based on his pitch map.
He was amazing tonight, and it was wonderful to do it in a big game because that’s how we like to start matches—running off each other to have that power play that we had and carry some momentum through the middle,” he said.
In a season that has seen a lot of runs scored in the league stage, Starc was questioned if it was surprising to have played on a surface that truly didn’t “showcase the one-day game.” He responded that he isn’t a specialist at reading pitches.
Yes, I won’t claim to be someone who reads pitches and understands what they’re doing. Training here over the past few days has definitely turned the practise wicket. The wicket we played on appears to have been used a few times, based on all reports, so it should come as no surprise that it turned. It’s probably a little unexpected that it did seam around a little bit, even though, as I mentioned before, the tempo was quite uneven. The typical first-inning score here has probably been somewhere around 300 or a little bit more. Thus, it was somewhat unexpected, but occasionally it’s encouraging to watch the ball outshine the bat,” he said.
