‘Australia were lucky, played better cricket’ – Vikram Rathour on ODI World Cup final doctored pitch allegations

Vikram Rathour, the former batting coach for India, denied any reports that the pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium was manipulated during the 2023 ODI World Cup. Participating in the commentary panel, former cricketer Mohammad Kaif stated that he had witnessed the surface alter in colour three days prior to the summit match, suggesting that it was being modified and made slower in order to aid the Indian bowlers.

Vikram Rathour said he disagreed with the remarks and added that the surface’s characteristics had changed during the match.

He thought it would slow down as the game went on, but the Australians won the match by a margin of six wickets. The 55-year-old continued, saying that Australia’s victory in the ODI cricket world championship was the result of both better cricket and luck. Pat Cummins led the team to victory.

I completely disagree with the rumour that the pitch was different that I’ve heard. Why did the pitch in the final get better as the game went on, when we were expecting it to get slower? Yes, we were capable of scoring more runs. Though there are many ifs and buts, one thing is certain: winning a tournament requires a little bit of luck. Australia was also luckier that day than we were. They were superior to us in cricket. And for that reason, Rathour informed Sportstar, they prevailed.

India’s skipper, Rohit Sharma, declared that his team wished to bat first at the toss. But they found it difficult to get going when it came to action. At one point, the Men in Blue were down to 81/3, and things haven’t gone their way since. Famous batsmen Virat Kohli and KL Rahul attempted to regain some of the momentum, scoring 54 and 66 runs, respectively, but other players were unable to muster much support as India was bowled out for 240 runs.

Australia got off to a slow start, trailing 47/3 at one point, but Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head steadied the ship and kept India out of the game. Head’s innings of 137 runs turned out to be the game-winning stroke as Australia won handily in Ahmedabad.