The Rawalpindi Stadium pitch is receiving negative feedback from all sides, but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) does not think the ICC will rate it as ‘poor’ or ‘fair’ for Test cricket.
The Test between hosts Pakistan and Australia ended in a high-scoring draw, but visiting captain Pat Cummins and top batsman Steve Smith were not impressed by the quality of the strip.
“Turning to a pitch that’s probably not the traditional pitch you’ll find here in Rawalpindi, and it’s probably clear that they’ve tried to try and eliminate fast bowling,” Cummins said.
Smith, who scored 78 on the fourth day, described the pitch as ‘dead’.
“There’s not a lot of momentum and bounce in it for the seamer, that’s for sure,” Smith said.
It has been reported that ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle may report the same to the world body as it is not in conformity with Test cricket standards.
However a PCB source did not see this happening.
“The ICC takes notice when a pitch is deemed dangerous and unsuitable for Test cricket,” the source said.
In their first innings, Pakistan scored 476 runs for the loss of just four wickets. In reply, Australia scored 459 runs. Pakistan scored 252 runs in the second essay without losing any wickets.
Batsmen scored 84.09 runs per wicket, the highest record since the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh Test (84.89) in Galle in 2013.
As per ICC guidelines, a Test pitch must have a seam, bounce, spin and move in different phases to make a match for batsmen and bowlers alike, slightly more favorable to the bowlers.
A pitch is considered bad if it deprives bowlers of fair competition between bat and ball.
Following the new ICC rules, the Wanderers Test pitch in South Africa was considered poor in 2018. She played against the Rawalpindi track and was dangerous for the batsman.
According to some media reports from Pakistan, the Pindi Cricket Stadium pitch may come under the radar of the ICC as only 11 wickets were lost in the first four days of the match.
Ranjan Madugalle had earlier termed the pitch as ‘poor’ for being unacceptable at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) during the 2017 Ashes Test.
Under ICC rules, if the pitch is rated as poor by the match referee, the Pindi Cricket Stadium will get three demerit points.
Any ground that receives five demerit points in five years is suspended from hosting international cricket for 12 months.
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