World Cup 2023 The arrival of Meanwhile, an important question is that India What kind of pitches will there be and to what extent the Pakistani team will be able to benefit from them.
The Cricket World Cup is being played from October 6 to November 19 in 10 Indian cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore, Dharamsala, Lucknow and Pune.
At least three pitches have been prepared in each of these 10 grounds, on which matches will be played alternately so that no single pitch faces too much wear and tear.
Three matches will be played in Hyderabad, while five matches are scheduled at all the other venues.
The Pakistani team will play their matches in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai and if they reach the semi-finals, a match may also be held in Mumbai. Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium has been earmarked for the final.
It should be noted that this World Cup is being played under the round-robin format, which means that there are no separate groups, but in the first stage, each team will play one match against every other team. It was 9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1 i.e. total 45 matches.
After this stage, the top four teams will play the semi-finals, out of which two teams will be selected for the finals. If you add them all, the total matches are 48.
What will be the pitches in these grounds and will they help Pakistan’s bowlers is the question on many eyes, as the nature of the pitch can decide the match.
Spin bowling: Pakistan’s weakness
Traditionally Indian pitches favor spin bowlers, which is why the Indian Cricket has produced some of the greatest spinners in history, and the Indian batsmen also play spin bowlers very well.
But Pakistan The problem is that it does not have world-class snipers. Central spinner Shadab Khan lacks confidence. Ever since the way he bowled in the Asia Cup match against India, there has been a question mark in front of his name.
Mohammad Nawaz is the other sniper but he too could not impress much. In the practice match against New Zealand, he gave 55 runs in seven overs, but no wicket could come to his share.
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Osama Mir is a leg spinner and has been bowling well in the Pakistani circuit. He must have taken two wickets in the practice match, but like Nawaz, he too proved costly. It also remains to be seen whether Osama Mir’s place in the final XI is made or not.
Agha Salman and Iftikhar can also bowl spin, but obviously being part-timers, they cannot be expected to bowl more than three or four overs.
Pakistan definitely has two world class fast bowlers in Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf. Shaheen Afridi is currently one of the most dangerous new-ball bowlers in the world, while Haris Rauf has impressed himself in white-ball cricket with his temperament.
But Naseem Shah will be sorely missed. He has proved in the last two years that he has the ability to create problems for the seam, swing and pace batsmen in any condition.
He has been replaced by Hasan Ali, but he has not been part of the national team for the last 16 months, so he will have a hard time adjusting. He last played an ODI against the West Indies in June 2022, and in that match too he was bowled in just 5.2 overs.
So, during this World Cup, will the magic of spin bowlers only work and fast bowlers will be able to play the role of guest actor? The answer to that question is, apparently not.
Sporting pitches
The International Cricket Council has specifically instructed the Indian Cricket Board to build pitches with grass during the World Cup to help fast bowlers.
ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson gave a presentation in Mumbai in August in which he issued some guidelines on conditioning during the World Cup.
According to the newspaper Hindustan Times, the presentation was attended by curators from nine of the stadiums used in the World Cup.
One of these curators told the newspaper that he had been told that the pitch should be such that the ratio of bat to ball was 60 to 40, meaning 60 per cent support to the batsmen and 40 per cent to the bowlers.
Pakistan cricket team captain Babar Azam bats against New Zealand in a warm-up match on September 29, 2023 (AFP)
Fear of dew
Another issue would be dew. The tournament is being played at a time when the subcontinent receives significant overnight dew, so it is sure to affect the pitch and field.
Dew makes it difficult for the bowling team, firstly the bowlers cannot grip the ball properly, secondly because of the wet field the fielders also have a hard time, and the risk of falling down is increased. goes
Another problem caused by dew is that the ball starts to hit the bat better. As if the loss of the bowling team is a loss in all respects
In this case the importance of the toss increases a lot as the captain can put the other team in trouble by deciding to bowl first.
The ICC has also looked into the issue and directed the Indian board to spray a special chemical called a wetting agent on the pitches to reduce dew. With the help of this chemical, the problem of dew can be solved to some extent.
Even 350 is not a safe score
In the 2011 World Cup jointly held in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the average first innings score was 249 runs, which increased to 274 in the 2015 World Cup in Australia.
After that, the score increased by two more runs to 276 in the 2019 World Cup in England.
But rivers of runs have passed under bridges in the last four years. The India Australia series immediately before the World Cup and then the practice matches suggest that scores of 300 will become the norm during this World Cup and perhaps the 400 mark will be crossed more than once.
There was a time when 300 runs was considered a very safe score. But in a practice match on September 29, with the facility with which New Zealand chased down Pakistan’s 345 runs, it is seen that apparently 350 is not a safe score in this World Cup.
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