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Team India put up a brilliant all-round display against New Zealand in their Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final match yesterday, to win by 70 runs and seal their spot in Sunday’s final. India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first, a move that worked well in India’s favour. Making the most of the batting-friendly conditions, the likes of Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer posted tons to take the team’s score to 397 runs. As the cricket world praised the Indian team, former Pakistan cricketer Sikandar Bakht sparked a controversy with his bizarre claim about the coin toss during India’s games.
Sitting as a pundit on a Pakistani TV channel, Bakht suggested that India skipper Rohit Sharma was deliberately throwing the coin far as part of a design to help him win the toss.
“Shararat kar sakta hoon? Mai ek sawal kar raha hoon agar hum dikha sake toss ke waqt. Rohit Sharma jab toss karte hai vo dur fenkte hai aur dusra captain jaa ke kabhi nahi dekhta ki vo sahi usne call kiya,” he said. The comment roughly translates to, “Can I be allowed a little mischief? At the time of the toss, Rohit Sharma throws the coin far from the range of any opposition captain. Thus, the opposition captain cannot go and cross-check about the call.”
Very strange the way Rohit Sharma throw the coin at toss, far away, don’t let other Captains to see, compare to other Captains in the WC , any reason?? @BCCI @TheRealPCB @CricketAus @CricketSouthAfrica #sikanderbakht #WorldCup23 #IndiaVsNewZealand @ImRo45 @ICC pic.twitter.com/KxhR2QyUZm
— Sikander Bakht (@Sikanderbakhts) November 15, 2023
Many such claims have been slammed by cricket legends since the World Cup started. Ahead of the semi-final between India and New Zealand, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was even accused of tilting the game in India’s favour by swapping the Wankhede pitch at the last minute.
Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar tore into the reports. “All those morons who have been saying about pitch change, I hope they just shut up, stop taking potshots at India. Stop talking about pitch change. It was for both teams,” Gavaskar told the broadcasters after the match.
“For God’s sake the second semi-final hasn’t been played and they are talking about changing pitch in Ahmedabad,” Gavaskar added.
The ICC also released a statement on the ‘pitch swap controversy’, saying the Atkinson, its independent pitch consultant, was aware of the change.
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