Indore pitch rating from poor to below average, demerit point reduced from three to one

New Delhi: The Indore pitch used for the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test between India and Australia from March 1 to 3 has been downgraded from ‘poor’ to ‘below average’. The International Cricket Council (ICC) gave this information on Monday. It has been said that according to the report submitted by Chris Broad soon after the match was over in March, the Holkar Stadium will now have three matches after the appeal of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Instead there will be only one demerit point.

The ICC, in its official statement, further said that after reviewing the footage of the Test match, the Appeals Panel, consisting of Wasim Khan, ICC General Manager Cricket, and Roger Harper, member of the ICC Men’s Cricket Committee. The panel opined that, while the guidelines in accordance with Appendix A of the pitch monitoring procedure had been followed by the match referee, it held that there was not sufficient reason for a ‘Poor’ rating.

“Instead, the appeals panel concluded that the pitch should be rated as ‘below average’. Consequently, 1 demerit point has been given for a ‘below average’ rating.” Earlier on 3 March, soon after Australia’s nine-wicket win, Broad expressed his concern about the pitch in his report The decision came after consulting the officials as well as the captains of both the teams, Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith. On the first day of the Test, India lost seven wickets in the first session after electing to bat. Matthew Kuhnmann touched his maiden five-wicket haul. The team was dismissed for 109 runs. 14 wickets fell on the first day.

After Australia took an 88-run lead, India were bowled out for 163 in the second innings. Barring top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara’s 59, none of the batsmen carried on. Nathan Lyon took eight wickets to set Australia a target of 76, which they chased down in 18.5 overs on Friday, handing India their third Test defeat at home in 10 years. But there was only one victory. The hosts won the series 2–1, before the visitors won the ODI series by the same margin in March.