The highly-anticipated India versus New Zealand World Cup 2023 semi-final is all set to be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday (November 15).

Ahead of the knock-out fixture, the Indian team management has been accused of tweaking the surface.

According to a Daily Mail report, the Indian team management has changed the pitch without the consultation of the ICC, and the first semi-final will now be played on a used surface – Pitch 6 – than the originally scheduled fresh one – Pitch 7.

The report claimed that this was done to assist the Indian spinners in the all-important semi-final against New Zealand.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan also commented on the reports and opined that a fresh pitch should be used for the match.

"A World Cup semi should be played on a fresh pitch .. It’s as simple as that .." tweeted Vaughan.

Amid the outrage, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has said that the pitch is there for both teams and feels the current Indian side is perfectly capable of handling any surface.

"The pitch is there for all the teams, so I don't think there should be too much discussion on what this pitch will do or not do. I do believe that this Indian team is perfectly capable of handling any kind of surface. Having you seen that in the tournament so far. And if it's a drier pitch, which is likely to be the case simply because the rains have gone. So there will be there is no hint of any moisture," Gavaskar told India Today.

"Yes, there will be one which there might be just a little bit of spin, no question about it. But the Mumbai pitch is generally very good for bating, so I don't think there should be too much of an issue. With the kind of bowling that we have, bowlers who have bowled superbly, whether they are bowling first or second, I don't think the pitch would be too much of an issue at all," he added.

"I think this is typically, you know, on the eve of the match when you have nothing to write about and then, you know, you try to say something because you want to fill in your columns, you want to talk about pitches and stuff like that. To me, it doesn't make a difference. If the pitch changes after the toss, they certainly have a conversation. But if the pitch is the same before the toss, I don't think any any noise should be made at all," he further remarked.

Notably, India were the most dominant side in the league stage as they won all nine games comprehensively. The Men in Blue had defeated the Kiwis by four wickets in Dharamsala on October 22.