India legend Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at critics who claimed that the pitch of the first World Cup semifinal between hosts India and New Zealand had been changed without the consent of the ICC and at the behest of the BCCI. 

A total of 724 runs were scored in an outstanding game of cricket in the first semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. 

Thanks to a record 50th ODI ton from star batter Virat Kohli and another century from Shreyas Iyer, India posted 397 – the highest-ever total in any World Cup knockout game. New Zealand gave a good fight in chase of it, scoring 327 runs with Daryl Mitchell notching a ton in their 70-run defeat. 

"All the morons who were talking about the pitch change. Just stop. Stop taking potshots at Indian cricket. People have said a lot of things to attract eyeballs or whatever it is. It's all nonsense," Gavaskar said while speaking on Star Sports after the game. 

Read more

Last-minute pitch switch mars India's spotless World Cup

The morning of the first World Cup semifinal was beset by controversy after reports emerged that the pitch that would be used for the game had been changed to favour India's spinners. 

According to the Daily Mail, the match was initially scheduled to be played on pitch number 7, a fresh wicket, but was switched to a used pitch, pitch number 6, that had previously hosted two games in the tournament. The change, reportedly, was made without "forewarning" to Andy Atkinson, the ICC pitch consultant. 

According to Gavaskar, even if the pitch was changed, it was not done in the middle of the innings and that provided both the teams an equal opportunity to assess it beforehand during the toss. 

"The pitch was there and even if it was changed, it was there before the toss for both the teams. It was not changed in the middle of the innings. It was not changed after the toss was done. If you are a good enough team, you play on that pitch and you win. India has done that. So stop talking about pitches. Already they are talking about Ahmedabad and the second semifinal hasn't even taken place. They are talking about the pitch being changed in Ahmedabad. Nonsense," Gavaskar further added.