ICC World Cup 2023: ICC Instructs Indian Curators To Prepare Batting-Friendly Pitches In World Cup

The International Cricket Council (ICC) reportedly informed the venue curators to provide the batting tracks for the upcoming edition of the World Cup in India. The ODI World Cup 2023 is scheduled to be played between October 5 and November 19 across 10 venues over a period of 44 days.

Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Pune are the 10 venues of the much-awaited tournament. The pitches came under fire as the Test matches finished within three days during the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) earlier this year.

Critics heavily criticized the surface used in the T20I between India and New Zealand at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. The visitors managed to score just 99 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their allotted 20 overs. The hosts completed that successful run-chase with just one ball to spare.

World Cup Set To Kick Off On October 5 In Ahmedabad

The World Cup 2023 will start with the match between 2019 tournament finalists England and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday, October 5. The tournament will be played in a round-robin format, where each team will compete against the other nine teams.

In preparation for the upcoming tournament, the ICC has issued instructions to the host association regarding pitch preparation. The global governing body instructed India to pitches with a preference for a 60-40 pitch favouring batting throughout the multi-nation tournament later this year.

ICC Gives Clear Indications To State Associations – Reports

According to Hindustan Times, ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson advised pitch curators not to come under external pressure to alter pitch conditions by removing grass for specific matches. The report added that the ICC aimed to minimize the home advantage as much as possible in the tournament.

According to the report, the average first-innings score was 249 runs in the 2011 World Cup (held in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh), the lowest among these editions. The average first-inning scores were 275 and 276 in the 2015 edition (Australia and New Zealand) and 2019 edition (England) respectively.

The ICC is currently aiming for high-scoring matches in the World Cup. The board has recommended boundary dimensions ranging from 70 to 80 yards. They also advised hosts to have full ground covers ready for rain protection, considering the unpredictable weather in October and November.

Also read: ICC World Cup 2023: Athar Ali Khan Describes Shakib Al Hasan As World’s Best All-Rounder For Indian Conditions