Cricket News

Sunil Gavaskar's No-Nonsense Verdict on 'BCCI Interference in Pitch Selection'

The hopes of team India of winning a third World Cup title and ending a 12-year drought for an ICC trophy came to a tame end last week as Australia defeated the Rohit Sharma-led side by six wickets in the final. The dominance of Team Blue throughout the tournament, where they won 10 games on the trot, including a 70-run win over New Zealand in the semi-final, came to an end in the final, thanks to brilliant bowling and fielding exploits from the Australians.

The road for India to the World Cup final was also overshadowed by a "pitch swapping" controversy after reports claimed that the ICC head curator had accused the BCCI of changing the track for the semi-final against the Kiwis.

However, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has labelled the accusations as "pretty irrelevant".

Gavaskar said, "The accusation of BCCI interference in the selection of the pitches for India matches again was pretty irrelevant, as the ICC pitch consultant was around, and only after the ICC gave its approval was the match played on the pitch."

Gavaskar further added that the controversy was put to bed in the semi-final itself when pacer Mohammed Shami bagged seven wickets on a pitch deemed helpful for spinners.