The Rohit Sharma-led Team India whitewashed Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series by triumphing the pink ball game in Bengaluru with a massive margin of 238 runs. The hosts, earlier, won the first Test in Mohali by a heavy margin of 222 runs and an innings.
Following India’s clean sweep in the longest format, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has delivered its verdict on the Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch used for the second Test. The pitch received a below-average rating in the report submitted by ICC Match Referee for the game, Javagal Srinath. As a result, the venue will receive one demerit under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.
“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,” Srinath said in his statement. The report has now been passed on to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the ICC said in its press release.
As per the revised ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process: “The venues whose pitches are rated below average by match referees receive one demerit point, while three and five demerit points are awarded to venues whose pitches are marked as poor and unfit respectively.
Demerit points remain active for a rolling five-year period and if it accumulates five demerit points or more, it is suspended from hosting any international cricket for a period of 12 months.”
Meanwhile, with the Test series win, India have moved up to the number four position in the ICC World Test Championship standings.
