Rohit Sharma has played down the extent to which the pitch and conditions will be a factor in the 2023 World Cup final, after it was revealed that the game will be played on the same wicket India beat Pakistan on earlier in the competition.

Pitches and their selection have been a subject of controversy this week in the World Cup knockout games, after the surface for India’s semi-final against New Zealand was changed the day before the game. The match took place on a used wicket at the Wankhede, which India recorded a 70-run victory on to book their place in the final.

A day out from the final, the ICC confirmed the final will be played on pitch No.5 in Ahmedabad, on the recommendation of pitch consultant, Andy Atkinson. That surface is the same one used for the India-Pakistan clash in the early group stages over a month ago, when Pakistan were bowled out for 191 before India completed the chase three wickets down with 20 overs to spare.

Speaking in the pre-final press conference on Saturday (November 18), Rohit was asked what he thought about the wicket and the weather conditions.

“That wicket [against Pakistan], there was no grass on it,” he replied. “This wicket has some grass on it. That wicket looked a lot more tired than this one. I don’t know, I still haven’t looked today at how the wicket is, but from my understanding obviously it’s going to be slightly on the slower side. But again, tomorrow we will come and assess what it’s like.

“It’s not going to change too much but it’s always nice to see the pitch on the day of the game and then assess what you want to do. That is something that we have maintained for a long period of time and that is something that we have done before as well. So it’s not something new for us to come and assess the pitch on the day of the game, and the players are aware of it as well.

“But in terms of the conditions changing, yes the temperatures have dropped a little bit. I don’t know how much of a dew factor there will be because in the Pakistan game, when we trained before the game there was a lot of dew, but there was no dew during the game. Even a few days back at the Wankhede, when we were training there was a lot of dew, on the game day there wasn’t much. So that’s why I keep saying the toss is not going to be a factor.”

Temperatures have cooled in Ahmedabad since the India-Pakistan match, with temperatures during the final set to be in the mid-20s (degrees celsius).

In his pre-final press conference, Pat Cummins was also asked the effect he thought the pitch would have on the match. “It’s obviously the same for both teams,” he said. “No doubt playing on your own wicket in your own country has some advantages, similar to wickets that you’ve been playing your whole life. But we’ve played a lot of cricket over here.

Rohit agreed with Cummins on the potential negligible importance of the toss. Of the four games in the competition, the side who have chased have won on three occasions.

“You have to play well to win the game regardless of the conditions and the temperatures,” said Rohit. “You have to play good cricket, absorb the pressure whenever it’s being put on you. So that’s what I think it boils down to. You’ve got to understand what is expected of you at that point in time.”

The final will start at 2pm tomorrow (Sunday, November 19) local time.

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