ICC slams Nag'poor' pitch

Terming it as “poor”, match referee Jeff Crowe added fuel to the ongoing fire that has seen divided opinions in world cricket on how far a team can stretch the “home advantage”. On the day, Crowe submitted a report to the world body that includes match officials’ concerns over pitch performance, triggering a review of the performance of the pitch under ICC’s monitoring process. The Indian board has 14 days to respond.

Following the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s reply, ICC’s general manager cricket, Geoff Allardice, and ICC’s chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle will consider all the evidence, including studying video footage of the match, before reaching their decision on whether or not the pitch was poor and if so, whether a penalty should be imposed.

The penalty for a pitch that is called poor for the first time, as is the case for Nagpur, can range from a warning and/or a fine of $15,000 with a directive to institute corrective measures.

India won the Tests in Mohali and Nagpur under three days on tracks that offered variable turn and extremely trying batting conditions.

And even though South Africa skipper Hashim Amla stopped shy of criticising the Nagpur track, he did refer to it as the “toughest he has had in his 11-year Test career”. “The surface was probably the toughest that I have had and the cricket itself was really difficult,” Amla had said after the 124-run loss in Nagpur that also brought about their first away series loss since 2006. “Credit to India, they kind of bowled well. Unfortunately, we ended up on the wrong side of this game. We haven’t experienced this type of challenge before.

“It would be harsh to say this South African team has struggled to score runs. If you look at the Indian team although they are on the winning side, it’s been tough for their batters as well,” the visiting skipper opined, adding that Indian spin greats Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh would have been unplayable in these conditions.

In Nagpur, South Africa had scored 79 — their lowest against India — and 185, in reply to India’s 215 and 173.

The development comes a day ahead of the fourth and final Test at the Kotla here, bringing a lot of spotlight on the Delhi track. While South Africa assistant Adrian Birrell hoped that the Kotla track “would last more than three days,” word has it that the strip for the fourth Test would assists spinners as well.

Said Birrell here, “We have had a look at the pitch. We are playing in India and we expect pitches to turn. This one looks like to go on for more than three days. We are happy with what we saw.”

India players and team director Ravi Shastri, however, have defended the nature of pitches. “I would hope the one in Delhi is absolutely the same (as Nagpur). I have no qualms about it,” Shastri had told Cricinfo a day ago, asserting that it was up to batsmen to adjust their technique. “Which rule tells me that a ball can’t turn on Day One? Where does it tell me in the rule book it can only swing and seam?” he asked.