'Bengaluru pitch below average'

After the Pune shame, it is now Bengaluru’s turn to suffer the ignominy of providing a sub-standard pitch.

Match referee Chris Broad, who had rated the Pune pitch for the first match as “poor”, has given “below average” rating for the Chinnaswamy surface where India beat Australia in under four days in the second Test of the four-match series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The rating, though a bit lenient compared to Pune, must have nonetheless left the Karnataka State Cricket Association, the hosts for the second match, red-faced.

Unlike with the Pune pitch report, which the International Cricket Council was quick to publish on its website, the governing body hasn’t made public Broad’s take on Bengaluru track for reasons best known to it. However, contrary to rumours that the Chinnaswamy deck has got a “very good” rating, it has been reliably learnt that Broad has labelled the pitch for the second Test as below average which is just above poor and unfit ratings.

While the pitch in Bengaluru wasn’t a raging turner like the one in Pune, the bounce was inconsistent from the start to the conclusion of the match which ended just a few minutes into the post-tea session on day 4. The low bounce particularly was a cause for concern that gobbled up quite a few batsmen from either side. Four bowlers (three spinners and a pacer) claimed six-for figures in a match that India won after conceding an 87-run lead.