India 'doctored' 2023 World Cup final pitch, claims Mohammed Kaif: 'We did it a little too much'

In an explosive claim, former India batter Mohammad Kaif has said that India tried to doctor the pitch to the final match of World Cup 2023. India suffered a humiliating defeat against Australia in the final despite being unbeaten in the series.

In an interview to India Today Group's Lallantop, Kaif said the final's pitch was made slower by the curators to suit the Indian side. "I was there for three days. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid inspected the pitch every day for 3 days ahead of the final. They stood beside the pitch for an hour every day. I saw the pitch change its colour. There was no watering the pitch, no grass on the track. India wanted to give Australia a slow track. This is the truth, even if people don't want to believe it."

Kaif said the feeling was that Australia had Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc, so India wanted to give a slow pitch, "and that was our mistake". "Many people say that curators do their own thing and we don't influence - that is rubbish. When you are moving around the pitch - you have to say just two lines - please don't put water, just reduce the grass. This happens. That is truth. And it should be done. You are playing at home. And we did it a little too much," he added.

"Cummins took the learning from Chennai that batting is tough at the start in a slow match. Nobody fields first in a final, but Cummins did. We messed up while doctoring the pitch," Kaif concluded.

In the final, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and batted first but the Indian side could post just 240 runs on the board, which Australia chased down in 43 overs, with a stunning century by Travis Head.

Some had questioned the BCCI's decision to play the final on the used pitch even ahead of the final. Then, ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson accused India of changing the track for the semi-final between India and New Zealand from a fresh to a used one. However, a BCCI source told PTI that Andy's assignment was over and he had gone back. "Don't try to find controversy where there is none. Nowhere it is written that ICC's pitch consultant needs to be present before the final." 

The final was played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19.