"If you don’t like it you can forfeit the game" - David Lloyd feels that ICC should have been stern regarding pitch change in IND vs NZ semi-final
Former England cricketer David Lloyd lambasted the International Cricket Council (ICC) for letting Team India have their way and changing the pitch for the first semi-final contest at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Team India recorded a 70-run win over New Zealand to become the first team to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup final, but it was not a contest devoid of controversy. The build-up was rife with talks surrounding a potential pitch change, where it was decided at the last minute that the fixture would be played on a used surface rather than a fresh pitch.
Far from pleased with the series of events leading to the pitch change as well as India's influence over the ICC, Lloyd wrote in his column for the Daily Mail:
"This World Cup doesn’t belong to India. They are not the hosts. It is just being staged in their country. It is the ICC’s competition and nothing to do with anybody else."
"They have a director of pitches, Andy Atkinson, and it is up to him what surfaces are used for these showpiece matches — not the Indian board or any other competing country," he added.
Several felt that this was a move by Team India to skew the conditions in their favor. Reports suggested that the ICC independent pitch consultant was not informed about the eleventh-hour change and was not pleased with the situation.
However, according to the ICC, the pitch consultant was informed about the change and there is no rule stating that knockout matches must be played on a fresh pitch.
Branding the ICC as 'weak' and criticizing them for letting India walk all over them, Lloyd further wrote:
"So the ICC were unbelievably weak in allowing India to decide what pitch they wanted for Wednesday's semi-final — and, surprise, surprise, it was a used one that in theory suited their bowlers more than New Zealand’s."
"The ICC should have stood up to India and said, ‘This new pitch is the one we are playing on and if you don’t like it you can forfeit the game’," he continued.
The 'used' pitch resulted in over 700 runs, with Team India recording the highest score in an ICC knockout fixture, while New Zealand also put in a solid attempt to chase the score down as well.
"India don’t need to play loose with the rules" - David Lloyd
The Men in Blue won the toss and elected to bat first, with the in-form Indian batters making the most of the favorable conditions. There was nothing from the surface to suggest that the surface was a used one, with only the odd ball turning and gripping.
However, Lloyd felt that a dominant team like India should not need to stoop this low as they are perfectly capable of winning across any conditions.
"A semi-final deserves a fresh pitch after a long competition for the sake of the spectacle and the credibility of the most important limited-overs tournament. Instead there’s only embarrassment," he wrote.
"It is so unnecessary, too, because India are the best team in the World Cup and don’t need to play loose with the rules. They are good enough to win on any surface and should have had the guts to try to do so against New Zealand," Lloyd added.
Team India will now face the winners of the second semi-final between South Africa and Australia in the final of the 2023 World Cup on Sunday.