Photo via Hindustan Times

Why South Africa's new exchangeable pitches could become an unseen factor in the 2027 ODI World Cup

Ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup, Cricket South Africa is introducing an innovative exchangeable pitch system to protect stadium surfaces without losing distinct local characteristics. Instead of standard drop-in strips, groundsmen cultivate individual pitches in separate steel trays using native soil and grass types before moving them into the main square.

This method allows heavily utilized venues like Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Centurion to easily rotate and rehabilitate strips while maintaining multi-format hosting capacity for domestic games and international fixtures.

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