The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is contemplating challenging the International Cricket Council's (ICC) decision to deem the Indore pitch 'poor'. After the third Test match between India and Australia finished in just under seven sessions in Indore, ICC Match Referee Chris Broad rated the pitch 'poor' and the venue received three demerit points. According to a report in the Indian Express, the BCCI "will take stock of the situation and decide" on whether to challenge ICC's decision or not.
As per the law, the Indian cricket board has a window of 14 days if they want to appeal against the sanction.
As per ICC, the Indore pitch gave an undue advantage to spinners as 14 wickets fell during Day 1. A total of 31 wickets fell during the third Test match, out of which 26 were snared by the spinners while just four wickets were taken by pacers as one was run out.
“The International Cricket Council today announced that the pitch for the third Test of the ICC World Test Championship series between India and Australia at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore has been rated as “poor” under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process,” the ICC said in a statement.
Not just this, 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.
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.”
Last year, the Pakistan Cricket Board had challenged ICC's decision after Rawalpindi's pitch was handed demerit points by the match referee. PCB's challenge was successful and the demerit points were rescinded.
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