Ahmedabad, 18 November (Tezzbuzz). Before the ICC World Cup final match against India to be held at Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, Australian captain Pat Cummins on Saturday said about the pitch that the wicket is good and the role of toss will not be important here.
At a press conference held before the title match, Cummins also talked about the controversy of changing the pitch at the last minute for India’s semi-final match with New Zealand.
Asked if he had taken a look at the surface on which the final will be played, Cummins said, again, I’m not a great pitch reader, but it looked quite strong. They have just added water to the pitch, so still 24 hours to go and see what happens, but it looks a very good wicket.
Cummins was asked about the challenges of bowling on such pitches in the subcontinent, which tend to break down much earlier in the game than in Australia, and said he was familiar with the conditions having spent a lot of time in India over the past year. Has helped in happening.
“There is no doubt that there are some advantages to playing in your own country on your own wicket, similar to the wickets you have been playing on all your life,” he said. But we have played a lot of cricket here.
Cummins said, you have to go with some of the balls used, slower balls, bouncers, you have to find a balance between the mix but not chasing too much. I think we have struck that balance very well and at least here in India, sometimes towards the end of the innings, things like the cutter probably work better than anywhere else in the world.
Following the brouhaha over pitch-change ahead of India’s semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai, Cummins was asked how much of a home advantage the surface would give India.
He said, it is difficult to say. It’s clearly the same for both teams. There is no doubt that there are some advantages to playing on your own wicket in your own country, similar to the one you have been playing on all your life. But we have played a lot of cricket here. So, yes, we will wait and see. I think, of all places, maybe the toss is not that important at this place. Yes, we will wait and see, but we will make sure we have some plans.
The Narendra Modi Stadium, the world’s largest cricket ground, has hosted four matches in the tournament so far, with spinners making significant contributions to the outcome of these games. Even though the fast bowlers have taken a total of 35 wickets in the tournament, the spinners have also performed well by taking 22 wickets.
Overall, spinners have proven to be more economical than fast bowlers.
The spinners also made an impressive impact in the middle overs of the game, while the pacers, especially the Indian trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, have been lethal in the early overs.
This year both the finalists have played one match each at Narendra Modi Stadium.
Kuldeep Yadav bowled lethally and took 2 wickets for 35 runs in the league match against Pakistan in Ahmedabad. While Adam Zampa took 3 wickets for 21 runs against England in the league stage at the same stadium.
Talking about fast bowlers, Bumrah took two wickets for 19 runs against Pakistan on this ground, while for Australia, captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood bowled lethally against England, taking 2-2 wickets for 49 runs. Had taken.
Tezzbuzz News / Sunil
