(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra hit back at Mohammad Hafeez, who had opined that the curation Chennai pitch has been influenced by the BCCI to favour India.
Citing the difference in the pitch’s behaviour in the India versus Australia match and the ongoing fixture between New Zealand and Bangladesh, Hafeez threw in a conspiracy theory that the BCCI is having a control on how the pitches are being made, which should not be the case in an ICC event.
“Tomorrow, it will get clear if it is ICC’s or BCCI’s tournament. Three
venues have already hosted two matches each. The pitch conditions in a
particular venue was the same for the matches. If the Chennai pitch
behaves the same tomorrow as how it did in the India versus Australia
match, then it’s understandable. But if it does not and there is a
batting track on offer, then you will get to know who is conducting this
tournament,” Hafeez said as quoted to PTV Sports on Thursday.
After Hafeez again posted on ‘X’ regarding this, Chopra put out to a logical reasoning to this. The cricketer-turned-commentator tweeted that in MA Chidambaram Stadium, different soils have been used to make pitches and it should not be a surprise if they continue to behave have differently throughout the 2023 World Cup.
“Brother, the square at Chennai (and at many other stadia in India) have pitches made with different soil now. Red-Black and mixed. As you’d know…pitches made with different soil component will play differently. Therefore, don’t be surprised if the pitches behave radically different at the same venue throughout the World Cup. 🙌,” tweeted Chopra.
The off-field sparks before the highly-anticipated Indo-Pak clash could be noticed. India and Pakistan will battle it out on October 14 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.