The Bengaluru pitch, which hosted the second Test between India and Australia, has been rated “below average” by the International Cricket Council, The Hindu reported. Earlier, a report in the Times of India had suggested that the wicket in Bengaluru was rated “very good” by match referee Chris Broad. “The pitch has been rated below average, and the outfield as very good,” officials were quoted as saying by The Hindu.
This is the second instance in as many games that the wicket on offer during the India-Australia series has been handed a negative rating. The wicket used at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune for the first Test was adjudged “poor” by Broad.
The second Test in Bengaluru ended in four days, with India levelling the series 1-1, after being drubbed by 333 runs at Pune in a match that lasted just three days.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, the pitch on offer at Ranchi is likely to be dry and grassless as well. “Local officials did their best to control the latest pitch doctoring storm, trying in vain to restrict inspection of the pitch to the captain and coach,” the report in the Australian newspaper stated.
“They banned players from taking pictures, but close-up images have emerged of the flint-hard, bone-dry and grassless surface, which one Australian described as the most ‘ridiculous’ pitch he had seen,” the report added.
Prior to the Australia series, India played eight Tests during the home season that saw them host New Zealand, England and Bangladesh. None of the wickets used for those Tests attracted a negative rating from the match referees.