Explain Kanpur pitch, BCCI told

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed confirms that match referee called the Kanpur pitch "substandard", report A Karhadkar and S Rajta.

The Kanpur pitch may have been to the liking of the Indian team, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s cash award of Rs 10,000 to curator Shiv Kumar confirmed that, but the International Cricket Council (ICC) does not quite agree.

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ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed confirmed that match referee Roshan Mahanama called the Kanpur pitch "substandard". The match referee is required to rate various aspects of a venue, including the pitch. "The ICC has referred the matter to the BCCI and has asked for an explanation. It’s a normal part of the process," he said.

The BCCI reacted immediately to suggestions that they had been issued a notice by the ICC. "We haven’t received any notice, it was just the match referee’s report, which is — as Mr Speed has said — a routine procedure," board secretary Niranjan Shah said. "The BCCI has already replied."

The board’s Pitch and Grounds committee Chairman, Daljeet Singh, admitted that the pitch wasn’t ideal but said "wickets everywhere have their own peculiar characteristics".