Toss goes India's way after pitch controversy in first semifinal

India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first after reports emerged hours before the first semfiinal that the local authities switched the pitch from the one originally prescribed by the ICC.

With batting expected to be a lot easier and getting harder in the second innings, it was no surprise Rohit decided to bat first after the toss had, reportedly, gone in their favour.

Both sides are unchanged for this match.   

TEAMS:

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham(w), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj

The match plunged into controversy after claims emerged that BCCI had changed the pitch for the semi-final game at Mumbai without ICC permission.

Andy Atkinson is the ICC's independent pitch consultant. The home board and Atkinson agrees on which pitches to use but a Daily Mail report has said that agreement has been ignored at the death end of the tournament.

The first semi-final was set to be played on pitch seven but has been shifted to pitch 6. Daily Mail suggests that Atkinson was told about 'unspecified problem' regarding the pitch 7, one that he does not feel similarly about. Pitch seven was a fresh pitch while pitch six has been used before in the tournament.

Atkinson is understood to have grown frustrated at the lack of a straight answer about preparations for the final, which prompted him to fly to Ahmedabad last Friday, the report read.

In a leaked email to ICC, Daily Mail quoted Atkinson as saying: 'As a result of these actions, one must speculate if this will be the first ever ICC CWC [cricket 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.'