However, the rating has been changed from ‘poor’ to ‘below average’ following an appeal from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). After the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) lodged an appeal on the rating, the ICC appeal panel, which included Wasim Khan, ICC General Manager – Cricket, and Roger Harper, ICC Men’s Cricket Committee Member, reviewed footage from the match.
Following the ‘poor’ rating, the Indian team was also docked three demerit points. The demerit points have also been reduced to one with the revised rating. In its statement, the ICC explained the rating change as follows: Both agreed that, while the Match Referee had followed the guidelines outlined in Appendix A of the Pitch Monitoring Process, there was not enough excessive variable bounce to warrant the ‘poor’ rating.
As a result, the panel determined that the pitch should be rated ‘below average,’ which means that the Holkar Stadium will receive only one demerit point rather than the original three.
Pitches have been the focus of attention for nearly the entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The BCCI rated the first two Test venues in the series as average. While the first three games of the series favoured spinners, the fourth Test was played on a completely ‘flat’ track at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The game ended in a dull draw, with both teams’ batters piling up mountains of runs.
The ICC rated the Ahmedabad pitch as average. The Wankhede Stadium and Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam pitches, where the first two ODIs between India and Australia were played, received a’very good’ rating from the ICC match referee.