Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: BCCI appeals against ‘poor’ rating given to Indore pitch | BCCI appeals poor rating for Indore pitch vs Australia
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has lodged a formal complaint against the ‘poor’ rating given to the Indore pitch for the third Test between India and Australia earlier this month. Now, a two-member committee of the International Cricket Council (ICC) will review this appeal before declaring their verdict on the issue within two weeks.
“Pitch was very dry and did not provide a balance between bat and ball, favouring spinners from the start,” match referee Chris Broad said in his assessment of the track on which the game rounded off within two-and-a-half days itself. Broad further stated that there was excessive and uneven bounce on the surface throughout the game.
Accordingly, the Holkar Stadium secured three demerit points after Broad’s damning assessment of the pitch. The venue will be banned from hosting international matches if it is handed two further demerit points over the five-year rolling period.
The Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) curators were given a very short notice to prepare the pitch for the third Test in Indore. The BCCI decided on February 13 to not host the game at the scheduled venue in Dharamshala as the relaid outfield over there was found to be unsatisfactory by the BCCI inspection team.
Indore Pitch: Do cricket boards usually appeal against pitch ratings?
Recently, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) successfully appealed against the ‘below average’ rating handed to the pitch in Rawalpindi that hosted the game between England and the host team late last year. The visitors won that match by 74 runs but the ICC referee Andy Pycroft had given a single demerit point to the pitch. Following another assessment, the ICC rescinded that point and instead declared that the pitch had several redeeming features, which was substantiated by the fact that 37 out of the total 40 wickets fell during the course of the game.
