ICC announces verdict on Ahmedabad pitch for India vs England Test that ended in two days

The Ahmedabad pitch was a subject of intense debate during the four-match series which India won 3-1 to qualify for the World Test Championship final. Now ICC has passed it judgement on the 22 yards.

The pitches for the second and the third Tests during the recently concluded India-England series – held in Chennai and Ahmedabad respectively and both of which took sharp turn from the first day – have been rated as “average” by the ICC. The pink ball Test at Ahmedabad saw England getting bowled out twice (112 and 81 runs) inside two days. In what was supposed to be a showpiece event for the new 1,10,000 capacity Narendra Modi Stadium, the match ended prematurely thanks to 28 out of the 30 wickets that fell going to the spinners.

England Skipper Joe Root during the 2nd day of the 3rd Test Match in the series between India and England at Narendra Modi Stadium, Motera in Ahmedabad. ((ANI Photo/ECB Twitter))

England captain Joe Root, who picked up 5 wickets with his part time off-spin in India’s first innings, had also taken a dig at the wicket by saying: “If I’m getting five wickets out there, that sums the pitch up. It’s for the ICC to decide if the wicket was fit for purpose”.

While match referee Javagal Srinath’s “average” rating doesn’t exactly shower praise on the pitch, it didn’t cause the Indian board sanctions or demerit points either. And the board officials are not complaining. “We always felt that the bounce was good throughout the Test match,” said Anil Patel, Jt. Secretary, Gujarat Cricket Association. “Most of the wickets fell because the batsmen did not play well against spin. There was never a question of the wicket being poor.”

Expert opinions have been divided on whether these two Test pitches in particular offered a fair contest between bat and ball. As per the ICC pitch guidelines, a poor pitch is one “that does not allow an even contest between bat and ball by favouring the bowlers too much (seam or spin), and not giving the batters from either team the opportunity to make runs.”

The match referee is also encouraged to call a pitch “poor” that offers excessive assistance to spin bowlers early in the match. The rules do allow the match referee to take a considered view as to what is excessive spin in subcontinental conditions, and Srinath may have factored in the SG pink ball skidding a lot more than the red ball during the day-night Test.

Interestingly, the pitch for the first Test match that India lost – one that India captain Virat Kohli said was “too flat” – was given a “very good” by the ICC. The pitch for the final Test, also in Ahmedabad which England lost under three days, was rated as “good”.