Chris Broad, the match’s referee, saw that the fifth ball produced a dust cloud and continued to degrade.
The third Test between India and Australia was played on a ground in Indore that was assessed “bad” by the ICC, earning Holkar Stadium three demerit points.
The third day’s opening session of the Test came to a close with Australia winning by nine wickets in a match that was controlled by spinners.
ICC match referee Chris Broad stated “The pitch, which was very dry, did not provide a balance between bat and ball, favouring spinners from the start,” and also that “The fifth ball of the match broke through the pitch surface and continued to occasionally break the surface providing little or no seam movement and there was excessive and uneven bounce throughout the match.”
The BCCI now has 14 days to file an appeal against the penalty. A venue that accrues five or more demerit points during a rolling five-year period will be barred from hosting any international cricket for a duration of one year.
With regard to hosting the third game of the Border-Gavaskar series, Indore received little notice. It was originally planned to happen in Dharamsala, but after it was relaid, the outfield isn’t yet up to par.
On February 13, or roughly two weeks before the game’s scheduled start on March 1, the BCCI announced the venue change.
India like to compete in matches if the conditions are favourable from the start. That was undoubtedly the case at Holkar Stadium, where the host team, which had won the toss and chosen to bat, fell to 84 for 7 after just one session.
Rahul Dravid, the India coach, was observed checking it during the lunch break as the curator accompanied him.
But when the game was over, India’s skipper Rohit Sharma didn’t hold back “In all honesty, these are the types of fields we want to play on.
As a result, when playing at home, you should always play to your strengths and not worry about what others are saying outside.”
Steven Smith, the interim captain of Australia, didn’t mind the weather either. He stated, “I myself really like playing on these kinds of wickets.
“This is preferable to a five-day, genuine flat wicket, which can become monotonous at times. On these wickets, something is always going on.
You must put in a lot of effort to run well. The men can do it, though, as has been demonstrated. Men can succeed, but they need to work hard and have some good fortune.
In this case, it’s possible that it was a little bit too extreme from the first ball. Although I’m not completely sure, it was nonetheless fun.”
However, in terms of a balance between bat and ball, only two scores of fifty or more were recorded throughout the entire Test match due to the uneven degree of turn and bounce. There were 16 scores in the single digits.