'Heavy Roller, Slow Track, 315 Defendable': 'Pitch Talk' Ahead Of WC Final

The International Cricket Council's (ICC) head pitch curator Andy Atkinson will oversee the preparations for Sunday's Cricket World Cup final between India and Australia, according to Press Trust of India (PTI). The news agency had initially reported BCCI's curators are overseeing the pitch preparations with Atkinson leaving India. However, PTI then said that Atkinson will join BCCI's curators on the eve of the Cricket World Cup final. Atkinson, according to reports, had accused that the pitch for the semi-final between India and New Zealand was changed from a 'fresh' to a used one.

"On Friday, the two senior BCCI's chief of ground staff Ashish Bhowmick and his second in command Taposh Chatterjee, along with former India seamer and BCCI's GM (Domestic Cricket) Abbey Kuruvilla, closely monitored the pitch preparations for the mega final on Sunday," PTI reported on Friday.

The report also suggested that a slow track is being prepared for the final with the use of a heavy roller, and the team batting first might have an edge over the other. However, the report didn't specify whether the pitch will a used one or a fresh surface.

"If heavy roller is being used on a black soil strip then the idea is to create a slow batting track where you can get a big score but you possibly can't consistently hit through the line. 315 could be a defendable score as batting second will be difficult," a state association curator was quoted as saying by PTI.

Several Indian players, including captain Rohit Sharma, had an extensive net session. Rohit was also seen having some chat with the curators at the world's largest cricket stadium.

With PTI inputs

source https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/heavy-roller-slow-track-315-defendable-the-pitch-talk-ahead-of-cricket-world-cup-final-4583915