As if rubbing salt into their fresh wounds, the ICC match referee Chris Broad has rated “poor” the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium pitch on which India crashed to a 333-run defeat against Australia in the first Test.
The Pune surface has come in for heavy flak for its dry nature, resulting in India losing the match inside three days. In the first innings they were dismissed for just 105 while in the second essay they managed 107, batting a whole of 74 overs in the match.
“The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that Chris Broad of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, who was the match referee for the first Test between India and Australia in Pune, has rated the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium pitch as ‘poor’,” said a statement from the ICC.
“Broad, in accordance with Clause 3 of the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, submitted his report to the ICC in which he expressed concern over the quality of the pitch. The report has been forwarded to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which now has 14 days to provide its response,” it further added.
This is not the first time an Indian pitch has attracted such a criticism from the match referee. In December 2015, the pitch used for the third Test between India and South Africa in Nagpur was also rated “poor”.
What could have forced Broad to write such a scathing report was to see the ball turn sharply as early as in the second over of the day.
Daljit under scanner
Meanwhile, pitch curator Daljit Singh’s job as chief curator of the BCCI is in line after the scathing report by the ICC.
In fact Daljit was also in charge of the Nagpur pitch that was also rated ‘poor’ by ICC match referee Jeff Crowe.
