The Centurion Pitch which hosted the first Test between India and South Africa on 26th December 2023 has been rated ‘Satisfactory’ by the International Cricket Council (ICC), as per Cricbuzz. The pitch of the Boxing Day game won’t be facing any sanctions now.
The assessment for the Centurion pitch came after the ICC received a lot of criticism for rating the pitch of the second Test in Cape Town as ‘unsatisfactory’. The surface was criticised a lot for the way it played out and many feel that it should’ve rated even more poor.
The Centurion pitch has escaped any sanctions after the rating. The ICC recently changed the pitch rating system for an international fixture. Now there are only four ratings in very good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, and unfit. Earlier there were as many as 6 ratings in very good, good, average, below average, poor, and unfit.
The Centurion Test saw South Africa winning the game by an innings and 32 runs. The Indian team had a torrid outing with the bat in both the innings. While they didn’t make a good shot selection, the pitch too made a difference as there was indifferent bounce.
India were asked to bat first and they lost the wicket early. But KL Rahul slammed a magnificent century that powered India to a total of 245 runs. South Africa produced a great show with the bat as they ended with a total of 408 runs, thanks to the brilliant 185 by Dean Elgar.
In the second innings, India displayed an even more torrid display. Wickets fell like a pack of cards and they were bundled out for just 131 runs. Only Virat Kohli looked settled at the crease and all the other batters couldn’t get going at all as the visitors suffered a massive loss.
IND vs SA: Ball regularly shot up from a good length – Sunil Gavaskar on Centurion pitch
Batting great Sunil Gavaskar too gave his verdict on the pitches in South Africa. He pointed out the Centurion pitch and highlighted that the ball regularly shot up from a good length. Writing in his column, he stated:
“It will be most interesting to see what the Newlands pitch is rated after what turned out to be the shortest Test match ever. It would be even more interesting to see what rating the pitch at the Centurion where the first Test was played would get. Yes, there were two hundreds scored on that surface but the way the ball regularly shot up from a good length was alarming indeed.”
The ICC rating system involves four steps. First, the match referee gives his view and then the operations department of the ICC office in Dubai processes it before the rating is finalised. The rating is then given to the host board as feedback.
The ICC states: “In addition, if a pitch or outfield is marked as substandard the relevant Home Board and the venue are required to explain why the pitch and/or outfield performed below the required standard. A pitch or outfield is deemed to be substandard if it receives a rating of unsatisfactory or unfit. Sanctions may be applied by ICC to a venue that presents a substandard pitch or outfield for international cricket.”
