ICC revises Indore’s Holkar Stadium pitch rating following BCCI’s appeal

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 came to an end with India retaining the coveted trophy once again, as they defeated Australia by 2-1. After winning the first two games of the series, the hosts lost the third Test, which was held in Indore.

The third game of the series was by far the most controversial one, thanks to the pitch that was curated for the match. Many experts opined that the pitch was unfit for a Test match and produced sharp turn on Day 1, which is usually expected on Day 4 or 5 of a Test match.

Following Australia’s win in the third game, the pitch was rated as ‘poor and unfit’ by the International Cricket Council (ICC), and it even received three demerit points. However, after an appeal by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the pitch rating has now been changed.

The Holkar pitch deemed ‘below average’ following BCCI’s appeal

Following the appeal by the BCCI, the footage of the Test match was reviewed by an ICC appeal panel, which consisted of Wasim Khan, ICC General Manager – Cricket, and Roger Harper, ICC Men’s Cricket Committee Member.

After the footage review, the panel came to the decision that, while the match referee followed the proper guidelines, there was not enough variable bounce on the pitch to warrant the ‘poor’ rating. Following that, it was decided that the pitch rating from the third Border-Gavaskar Test would be changed from ‘poor and unfit’ to ‘below average’. 

This also means that the three demerit points that the pitch received have been reduced to just one. The pitch in question was heavily discussed when the match was being played as well. It had a lot to offer for spinners, as they were the ones who took the majority of wickets in the match.

Rightly so, Australian veteran, Nathan Lyon, picked 11 wickets in the match as he propelled the Aussies to an emphatic victory and grabbed the Player of the Match award as well.