IND vs SL: Bengaluru pitch used for Day-Night Test gets 'below average' rating from ICC match referee

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has adjudged the pitch at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium used for the Day-Night Test between India and Sri Lanka as ‘below average’. The venue will, therefore, receive one demerit point under ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process. The pitch received the rating in the report submitted by ICC match referee Javagal Srinath.

According to the revised ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, the pitches rated below average by match referees receive one demerit point, while three and five demerit points are awarded for pitches that are marked as poor and unfit respectively.

“The pitch offered a lot of turn on the first day itself and though it improved with every session, in my view, it was not an even contest between bat and ball,” match referee Srinath noted in his report.

As per the laws in place, “when a venue accumulates five demerit points (or crosses that threshold), it will be suspended from hosting any international cricket for a period of 12 months, while a venue will be suspended from staging any international cricket for 24 months when it reaches the threshold of 10 demerit points.”

Any demerit point(s) are considered for a rolling five-year period. If a venue accumulates five or more demerit points, it is suspended from any international cricket hosting for a period of 12 months.

In Bengaluru, a record 16 wickets fell on the first day of the Test, with nine of those claimed by the spinners. At the end of the day, Sri Lanka were 86/6 after bowling India out for 252. Sri Lanka were eventually dismissed for a paltry 109 early on day two before being set a massive target of 447.

Although the visitors showed some resistance in the second innings after a forgettable first, with Dimuth Karunaratne playing a captain’s knock and notching up a century, Sri Lanka tumbled out for 208, losing by a whopping 238 runs. Meanwhile, India clinched the series 2-0 and jumped to No.4 spot in the World Test Championship rankings.