Cricket World Cup final drama as Pat Cummins spots pitch red flag

Pat Cummins has reportedly made a move behind the scenes after spotting an issue with the pitch prepared for the World Cup final.

Pat Cummins is reported to have raised his concerns about the pitch prepared for Sunday night’s World Cup final blockbuster.

The Australian captain was spotted inspected the deck at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday where he was joined by several teammates and officials before Indian team members did the same thing, cricket journalist Bharat Sundaresan reported.

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Cummins publicly played a straight bat when speaking during his final press conference before Australia’s showdown with India.

However, according to The Age, he raised concerns with ground staff during his inspection.

According to the report, one figure close to the team said there were concerns the middle of the pitch was “rock hard” but appeared to be rough at both ends.

Sundaresan wrote on Twitter the Aussies had concerns about the 5m patches in front of the crease at both ends of the pitch.

“The verdict was that these patches on both sides of the pitch had not been watered, or not to the same extent, anyway as the centre of the wicket,” the leading cricket journo wrote for Cricbuzz.com.

“Leaving the Aussie camp quite convinced that the spinners would come into play a lot more than they have on a number of pitches seen during the tournament, and from early in the piece too.”

Pat Cummins spotted a detail on the pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images.

Cummins said after the inspection he wasn’t surprised after controversy hit the tournament earlier this week with a “pitch switch” drama.

There was controversy in the lead-up to India’s 70-run semi-final win over New Zealand in Mumbai after it emerged the game was being played on a Wankhede Stadium pitch already used twice before during the tournament rather than a freshly-prepared surface.

“No doubt playing on your own wicket in your own country has some advantages,” Cummins told a pre-match press conference on Saturday.

“But we’ve played a lot of cricket over here. We’ll be ready in terms of anything they’ll throw at us...we’ll make sure we have some plans.”

Pat Cummins spotted a red flag. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images.

Pat Cummins shared his thoughts. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images.

The pitch for the final will be the same surface as the one on which India cruised to a seven-wicket pool win over Pakistan last month, when they dismissed their arch-rivals for just 191 after winning the toss. That pitch received an “average” rating by the ICC.

“My understanding is it’s going to be on the slower side,” said India captain Rohit Sharma later Saturday.

“But we have to assess what it is like tomorrow,” he added, pointing out that while there had been dew on the ground ahead of the Pakistan game, none appeared during the match itself.

“That’s why I keep saying the toss is not going to be a factor, you’ve got to play well to win the game regardless of how well you know the conditions.”

A used pitch had no major bearing on the Mumbai semi-final, with more than 700 runs scored in the game.

India Captain Rohit Sharma and Australia Captain Pat Cummins. Photo by Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images.

Cummins, asked if he had already seen the pitch for the final, replied: “Yeah, just had a look. It looked pretty firm...I think Pakistan played someone there.”

Used pitches generally favour spinners, with slow bowling a key component of a five-man India attack where Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to bowl 20 of their 50 overs on Sunday.

Australia have already won the World Cup a record five times and 30-year-old fast bowler Cummins, a member of the victorious 2015 side, was excited by having the opportunity to emulate the likes of Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting by leading the team to another triumph.

“It would be huge,” he said.

“We were all kids not too long ago, watching some of those great teams win the 1999, 2003, 2007 World Cups.”

He added: “To be captain would be an absolute privilege...it’d be awesome. “It (the World Cup) has got the longest history of a world event where all the teams compete.

“You only get a shot at it every four years. So even if you have a long career, you might only play in two of these events. 2015 is still a career highlight for me, but I think tomorrow, if we win, might pip it.”

— with AFP