The International Cricket Council (ICC), on Friday (March 3), gave ‘poor’ rating to the pitch in Indore’s Holkar Stadium where the third Test between India and Australia was played. The penultimate match of the four-match series ended in two days and a session as Australia beat India by 9 wickets.
The pitch became the major talking point after India’s horror collapse on day 1 of the Test. After Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first, Australia blew India away. The hosts lost as many as 7 wickets inside the first session and were all out for a paltry 109 in the second session.
The pitch was offering huge turn and uneven bounce right from the start and Australia’s spinners made the most of the conditions. Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann picked up 5 wickets while Nathan Lyon picked up 3. In reply, Australia scored 197. They too suffered an inexplicable collapse that saw them lose their last 6 wickets for just 11 runs.
In the second innings, India’s batting failed to do well once again as they were all out for just 163. Set a target of 76 runs, Australia crossed the finishing line inside 19 overs by losing just 1 wicket.
ICC delivers verdict on Indore pitch:
With the Holkar Stadium pitch failing to provide a sporting wicket, the ICC has deemed the pitch a poor one. The stadium has also received three demerit points due to the poor rating. The BCCI now have 14 days if they wish to appeal against the sanction.
“The ICC has deemed the pitch used for the third Test between India and Australia, which was played under the ICC World Test Championship umbrella, at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore as “poor” under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process,” the ICC stated in a statement.
“The Holkar Stadium has received three demerit points as a result after ICC Match Referee Chris Broad submitted his report after consultation with both Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith, the captains of both teams in the third Test,” the statement added.
Speaking about the pitch, ICC match referee Chris Broad 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,” he added.
The ICC rules state that a venue will be 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.