Is Team India cheating? 'Controversies' and 'conspiracies' that marred the Men's ODI World Cup 2023

The ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023, hosted by India, witnessed a stellar performance from the Men in Blue, securing 10 consecutive victories and securing a spot in the FINAL. Nonetheless, the journey was not without its challenges, as controversies emerged around topics such as the pitch and the ball. 

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Despite these discussions ultimately proving unfounded, some individuals, including former cricketers and figures from Pakistan, appeared to lend credence to these speculations. 

Let's delve into the details of these perceived "controversies" and "conspiracies."

Balls:

Indian bowlers have displayed exceptional prowess in the ODI World Cup 2023. Nevertheless, Hasan Raza, a former player for Pakistan, raised concerns, accusing the International Cricket Council (ICC) of providing Indian bowlers with different balls to enhance their ability to generate seam and swing compared to other teams. 

Raza made these remarks following India's remarkable performance in bowling out the Sri Lankan team for a mere 55 runs.

"The balls given to Indian bowlers should be checked. They are getting more swing and seam. Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj are bowling like Allan Donald and Makhaya Ntini. Even Mathews was surprised to see the amount of swing Shami’s ball got in Mumbai. Either ICC is helping them, or BCCI is coming to help their bowlers. There could be an involvement of the third umpire as well," he said.

Pitch:

The controversy stirred ahead of the 1st semi-final clash against New Zealand, with reports suggesting that the pitch was changed in violation of the agreement with the International Cricket Council (ICC), allegedly to favour Indian spinners. 

The initial arrangement stipulated that the semi-final would be played on pitch No. 7, which remained unused in the venue's four group matches. However, the match was relocated to strip No. 6 without informing Andy Atkinson, the ICC’s independent pitch consultant, even prompting him to write an email to ICC. 

The purported e-mail, according to the Daily Mail, read: "As a result of these actions, one must speculate if this will be the first ever (World Cup) final to have a pitch which has been specifically chosen and prepared to their stipulation at the request of the team management and/or the hierarchy of the home nation board. Or will it be selected or prepared without favouritism for either of the sides competing in the match in the usual manner, and unquestionably because it is the usual pitch for the occasion?"

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However, ICC cleared the air and said, "Changes to planned pitch rotations are common towards the end of an event of this length and have already happened a couple of times. This change was made on the recommendation of the venue curator in conjunction with our host. The ICC independent pitch consultant was apprised of the change and has no reason to believe the pitch won't play well," as per ESPNcricinfo.

Unhappy with all this, former India legend Sunil Gavaskar said, "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".

The report also claimed that if India made it to the final in Ahmedabad, a slow pitch is expected at the Narendra Modi Stadium. 

"Stop talking nonsense about pitches, some of them have already started about the Ahmedabad pitch especially the 2nd Semi hasn't been completed," he said.

Toss:

Sikander Bakht, a former player from Pakistan, presented a conspiracy theory, suggesting, "Can I give you a conspiracy theory? 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," Bakht stated on Geo News. 

He further supported his theory by sharing a video on X (formerly known as Twitter) illustrating how Rohit tossed the coin before games in comparison to other captains. 

"Very strange the way Rohit Sharma throw the coin at the toss, far away, don’t let other Captains see, compare to other Captains in the WC, any reason??" he would caption the post.

However, other former Pakistani players did not entertain Bakht’s theory.