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International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday rated the pitch for the third Test between India and Australia at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore as "poor" under its Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
"ICC Match Referee Chris Broad submitted his report to the ICC expressing the concerns of the match officials and after consulting with captains of both teams. Following the assessment, the venue has received three demerit points," ICC said in an official statement. Spinners from both teams got a lot of help from the surface that was conducive to spin right from the start on day one, which saw 14 wickets fall. Out of the 31 wickets that fell during the whole match, 26 were scalped by the spinners while only four wickets went to pacers. A batsman was run-out. "The report has been forwarded to the BCCI, who now have 14 days if they wish to appeal against the sanction," the statement said. "The pitch, which was very dry, did not provide a balance between bat and ball, favouring spinners from the start. The fifth ball of the match broke through the pitch surface and continued to occasionally break the surface providing little or no seam movement and there was excessive and uneven bounce throughout the match," the statement quoted Broad as saying. According to the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, a venue gets suspended from hosting any international cricket for a period of 12 months if it accumulates five or more demerit points over a five-year rolling period. The final Test of the series in Ahmedabad has a lot of significance for India even though they are ahead in the series. Australia booked their ticket to the World Test Championship final with the win in Indore and India have a chance to do the same if they win the final Test. Australia made a strong comeback in the series beating India by 9 wickets in the Indore Test. India lead the series 2-1. (ANI)
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