Former India great Sunil Gavaskar launched a scathing attack on the experts who claimed pitch conspiracy theories about the pitch for the India vs New Zealand semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was changed at the last minute to favour Indian spinners.
Before the all-important semifinal, there were some reports that claimed the Mumbai Cricket Association and BCCI had changed the pitch selected a used one to favour the Indian spinners.
Responding to the reports on the pitch conspiracy reports, the Little Master asked the critics to ‘shut up’ and stop taking ‘potshots’ at Team India for attracting eyeballs.
“When India reaches the final of any multi-nation tournament, it is always a matter of great pride and if it is the World Cup, it’s that much more special. India have done it in style. They scored close to 400 runs, and had that extra 70-80 runs cushion. This has been such a wonderful pitch. We have got more than 700 runs scored on this. All those morons who have been saying that the pitch has been charged to favour the Indian spinners, I hope they just shut up, stop taking potshots at India just because it helps you to get whatever eyeballs. It’s nonsense. Even if it was changed, it was done before the toss. It wasn’t changed after the toss or in the middle of the innings. You are a World Cup team, you play on that pitch, you win. India have done that. So stop talking about the pitch,” said Gavaskar during an interview.
“Already they are talking about Ahmedabad pitch being changed when the second semifinal hasn’t even taken place,” he added.
Earlier, ICC had also clarified that the independent pitch consultant Andy Atkinson was taken into confidence before the change of surface.