The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Monday (March 27), reversed its rating for the Indore Test pitch that was used for the India-Australia third and penultimate Test, at the Holkar Stadium early this month to ‘below average’.
The pitch at the Holkar stadium where the third Test between India and Australia was played initially received a poor rating after the match ended in 2 days and a session but the decision has now been reversed after the BCCI appeal. The pitch following a statement by the match referee Chris Broad’s stern assessment of the conditions was labeled as ‘poor’; emphasizing that it did not provide enough balance between bat and ball. However, BCCI appealed against the decision and now the rating has been changed to ‘below average’.
The pitch will now get only one demerit point. ” The footage from the Test was reviewed by an ICC appeal panel consisting of Wasim Khan, ICC General Manager – Cricket, and Roger Harper, ICC Men’s Cricket Committee Member. Both were of the opinion that, while the guidelines had been followed by the Match Referee in accordance with Appendix A of the Pitch Monitoring Process, there was not enough excessive variable bounce to warrant the ‘poor’ rating,” said an ICC statement on Monday.
The Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad has been rated as an average pitch. The Wankhede Stadium and Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam pitches, where the first two ODIs between India and Australia were played have been rated as ‘very good’ by the ICC match referee.
India lost the BGT to the visitors by nine wickets. The pitch conditions at the Holkar stadium where the third match was played was blamed for the loss.