BCCI challenges ICC's 'poor' rating for Indore pitch

bcci-challenges-indore-pitch-rating-poor

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has formally challenged the ICC match referee decision to deem the Indore pitch as "poor". The rating has come with three demerit points and there is an impending danger of suspension to the Holkar Stadium.

The surface was used during the third Test of the just-concluded Border-Gavaskar Series 2022-23 between India and Australia. On a rank turner. India were bundled out for 109 in 33.2 overs after electing to bat first. Overall, a total of 14 wickets fell on the first day. The match ended in two days and one session with India losing by nine wickets.

As per the rules, five demerit points will see a ground suspended from hosting any international cricket for a period of 12 months, while a venue will be suspended from staging any international cricket for 24 months when it reaches the threshold of 10 demerit points.

Indore Pitch rating: BCCI challenges ICC

According to a Cricbuzz report, the BCCI has lodged a formal appeal against ICC match referee Chris Broad's condemnation of the playing surface and the ICC will now have to take a formal call within 14 days. The report which quoted BCCI sources added that the rating appears to have been given in haste. "The match referee's decision on the pitch came just hours after the Test ended, unusual in such matters by the ICC.

"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," Broad was quoted as saying by the ICC.

Following BCCI's appeal, a two-member committee of ICC general manager and chairman of Cricket Committee will review Broad's assessment. Former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is the chairman of the Cricket Committee and Wasim Khan, the former CEO of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is the GM. As it is a BCCI protest, Ganguly might be replaced by another official.