Ahmedabad pitch in focus ahead of World Cup final

Across nine venues and 10 matches over the past six weeks, Rahul Dravid's routine as head coach on days leading up to a game hasn't changed. A stickler for absorbing the finer nuances of how a pitch may behave even during his playing days, Dravid was back to gazing long and hard at the playing surface at the Narendra Modi Stadium two days away from the final against Australia. 

At a quarter past 3 on Friday, with the sun not as harsh as what it was a month ago for the India-Pakistan showdown, Dravid was out in the middle with his support staff and skipper Rohit Sharma.

Not an immediate glance was available for the Indian camp, with the surface set to be used for the final covered with a couple of brown sheets alongside two other pitches to its left. Soon enough though, the layers came off as Dravid and Sharma proceeded to have a lengthy discussion presumably on what to expect come Sunday. While a sprinkling of grass was there to hold the pitch together, it is customary for that to be shaved off on match eve.

If the playing surface garners undue attention for matches particularly in this part of the world, the spotlight has only been amped up after reports that the semi-final in Mumbai was played on a used deck rather than a fresh one as initially expected. Furthermore, the absence of ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson on Friday has sparked speculation that the Englishman has flown back home. The International Cricket Council (ICC) denied it though.

"Andy Atkinson is here as planned. He is here in the same capacity as he has been for the entire event and will continue to carry out his role," said an ICC official.

At the nets in the far end of this sprawling stadium, meanwhile, it was just KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishan Kishan, R Ashwin and Prasidh Krishna that initially turned up. Rahul, Jadeja and Kishan donned the pads for longish batting stints against Ashwin, Krishna, throwdown specialists and a bevy of net bowlers.

It was a fairly subdued training stint as most of India's first-choice players chose to stay away. Sharma came out to bat nearly an hour after it had begun, timing the ball just as serenely as he has done all tournament. Having played the job of enforcer all through, he will be keen to deliver on that front for undoubtedly the most important game of his 16-year international career.

Long after the players had packed up for the day, activity continued across the vast expanse of lush green. With a closing ceremony planned for Sunday – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a slew of top celebrities will be in attendance for the glitzy affair -- three large groups in different pockets of the outfield were busy practising their dance performances under floodlights. A similar-looking golf cart to the one on which Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took a lap around the stadium during the India-Australia Test in March was also spotted.

As we saw during the India-Pakistan game here last month, Ahmedabad knows how to put up a grand and glamourous show for these occasions. One can only hope that the on-field contest is far more engaging than what we had back then.