For nearly an hour, the heavy roller continued on the black soil playing surface for the India vs Australia World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Under the eyes of curator Taposh Chatterjee, the ground staff continued with their work before World Cup pitch consultant Andy Atkinson arrived to inspect preparations and the pitch.
After greeting all members of the staff and curators present, Atkinson had a look at different areas of the 22 yards and checked the firmness of the surface. He even clicked pictures during his drill and gave numerous thumbs-ups when the rolling was underway. The inspection lasted nearly 30 minutes, and involved discussions with curator Chatterjee and then Atkinson left after the surface was placed under covers.
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Shortly after Atkinson’s exit, the covers were removed again and light rolling was done around the good-length spot and the area was allowed to bake under the sun before the covers came back on.
‘Pretty Good Wicket’
At the pre-match press conference, Australia’s captain was asked about what he made of the pitch and he had a crisp reply to the query.
“Again, I’m not a great pitch reader, but it looked pretty firm. They’ve only just watered it, so yeah, give it another 24 hours and have a look, but it looks like a pretty good wicket,” said Cummins.
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When asked if it was a used surface, Cummins confirmed that India vs Pakistan was played on the same strip and added “It’s been a pretty good wicket”.
“Yes, I think Pakistan played there… it’s been a bit more high-scoring here throughout the tournament. Yeah, it’s been a pretty good wicket,” said Cummins.
There has been a lot of chatter around the pitch since the India vs New Zealand semi-final but Cummins asserted it’s the same for both teams and they have played a lot of cricket in India to know what to expect.
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“It’s the same for both teams. No doubt playing on your wicket in your own country has some advantages, similar to wickets that you’ve been playing your whole life. But we’ve played a lot of cricket over here. So, yeah, we’ll wait and see. I think, of all the venues, perhaps this venue – the toss isn’t as important as, say, a Mumbai Wankhede Stadium or other venues. So, we’ll be ready in terms of anything they’ll throw at us. Yeah, we’ll wait and see, but we’ll make sure we have some plans,” said Cummins.
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