CWC 2023: Will nature of pitch influence changes to squad in World Cup final?

With India acing in all three departments of the game, the naysayers have been pointing fingers at all aspects outside their performances. Questions have been raised over whether a different ball is being provided to Indian seamers. Some have even questioned the legitimacy of the toss. As with the semi final the pitch has also become a bone of contention. Currently two pitches on the right side of the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad are being worked upon. 

The pitch for the final is expected to be on the slower side although containing spongy bounce.  Captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid were spotted inspecting the pitch on November 18th. 

Former Australian captain has put a full stop to the doubts emerging with regard to the validity of curating the pitch in favour of the home team. “I think the same as I've always thought; that the curator should make the pitch and the players play on it and it should be up to no one else other than the curator, the local curator. I've always said about every pitch — don't worry about World Cups, anything else — the curator makes the pitch and everybody else stays out of it,” he said in an interaction with the Wide World of Sports. 

Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was spotted in the optional practice session which has given rise to speculations that there might be a contest between him and Siraj for a position in the playing 11. India has also been firm on the strategy of sticking to their playing 11 and a change in this approach would truly be a surprise.