Hope the quality of pitches is going to be better than IPL during the T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli is expecting that the pitches for the T20 World Cup will play better than what they did during the second half of the Indian Premier League. Notably, the pitches in Sharjah witnessed a stark turn from the IPL 2020 when the venue recorded a slew of high-scoring games.

While the scoring in Dubai and Abu Dhabi was slightly better, there were plenty of moderate scoring encounters at these venues too. Kohli stated that he expects the tracks to be consistent throughout the tournament.

“I believe so. Looking at the IPL final, I believe that quality of pitches definitely is going to be far better in this T20 World Cup,” Kohli said on the eve of the big game against Pakistan.

“Also being an ICC tournament, we know that standard of pitches is going to be maintained up to a certain degree which is consistent across all venues.

“I knew that to protect the pitches for a tournament like World Cup, there had to be some compromise in playing conditions when we played the IPL. We all understood that and the wicket in the IPL final (between CSK and KKR) was very very good,” he added.

Kohli further agreed that the dew factor will be crucial as the tournament progresses. During the second leg of the IPL, Abu Dhabi witnessed plenty of games where dew played a decisive role, with chasing teams dominating the winning record. In fact, nine of the 13 games in Dubai too witnessed the chasing team emerge victorious. “Dew factor will be prominent as we head into this time of the year in Dubai. That is also going to help the pitches play much better.

“I believe Abu Dhabi and Dubai are going to be best pitches out of all the venues. Sharjah more or less will stay more or less true to its nature, which is slow and low and I don’t myself too many high scoring matches ….,” he concluded.

India will lock horns with Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai in what will be both teams’ first encounter in the Super12 stage.