The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday, March 10, rated the pitch at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi that was used for the first Test between Pakistan and Australia as "below average".
The surface was criticized heavily by the cricket fraternity as Pakistan scored 476/4d and 252/0 in their two innings, while Australia managed 459. Imam Ul Haq scored two centuries in the match, while Azhar Ali and Abdullah Shafique scored a century as well.
PCB chief Ramiz Raja defended making a flat pitch against Australia as Pakistan didn’t have a first-choice bowling attack and they didn’t want to give a pitch with pace and bounce to Australians to take advantage of it.
However, with the ICC rating the Rawalpindi pitch ‘below average’, the venue has received one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
"The character of the pitch hardly changed over the course of five days and that there has been no deterioration apart from the bounce getting slightly lower. The pitch did not have a great deal of pace and bounce in it for the seamers nor assisted the spinners as the match progressed," Ranjan Madugalle of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees stated in an official statement.
"In my view, this does not represent an even contest between bat and ball. Therefore, in keeping with the ICC guidelines, I rate this pitch as below average," he added.
Had the pitch been marked as "poor" or "unfit" then the ground would've earned three or five demerit points respectively. The ICC had revised its pitch and outfield monitoring process in January 2018.
Under the new guidelines, each pitch hosting an international game receives one of the following six ratings: Very Good, Good, Average, Below Average, Poor, and Unfit.
The three-Test series is part of the World Test Championship, with the second match set to begin on March 12 in Karachi and the third one on March 21 in Lahore.
(ANI inputs)
