• Source:JND
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IND vs AUS: Except for the Sydney Cricket Ground, all the other pitches, that were used in the recently concluded five-match Test series between India and Australia, got a very good rating from the ICC. But the Sydney pitch was rated 'satisfactory' since the fifth and the last Test match ended within three days.

The fifth and the last Test match was held in Sydney and that produced excessive bounce and left the ex-cricketers stunned. The SCG, which is often known to have produced spin-friendly pitches in Down Under, didn't turn out to be that way. The Indian team management made the conscious decision of selecting two spinners in the form of Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar even though there was a tinge of green evident on the first day.

As usual, the fast bowlers had an upper edge as 11 wickets were taken on the first day and 15 wickets fell on the second day. The visitors were skittled out for 185 runs during the first innings where stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and chose to bat first. The hosts were bundled out for 181 runs on the second day but their fast bowlers bowled aggressively and then restricted the Men in Blue to just 157 runs during the second innings.

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The Men in Blue suffered a huge setback as Bumrah couldn't bowl during the fourth innings and the Pat Cummins-led side comfortably chased down the target of 162 runs with six wickets remaining. After this win, the hosts reclaimed the elusive title.

Former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Justin Langer were the few people to have slammed the surprising nature of the pitch.

There were four pitches, which received top ratings, like Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Melbourne as per Channel 7. Whereas the Sydney Cricket Ground got a satisfactory or average rating.

SYDNEY: SATISFACTORY

PERTH, ADELAIDE, BRISBANE, MELBOURNE: VERY GOOD

Peter Roach, who is the head of cricket operations in Australia, reckoned that he was satisfied with the ratings and also talked about the Sydney pitch.

“The SCG has been striving to bring out their unique characteristics of early pace and bounce before the pitch wears and spins.â€ïThis year was a step in the right direction to achieving this which provided an exciting finish to the Border Gavaskar Trophy series and bodes well for the Ashes summer in 2025-26."

How are the pitches rated by the ICC?

These rules were changed in 2023 as the ratings were reduced from six to very good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, and unfit.

Before that, the ICC used to rate the pitches as Very Good (providing an even contest between bat and ball), Good (slightly favoring one discipline but still competitive), Average (acceptable but lacking balance), Below Average (heavily biased towards one side, earning one demerit point), Poor (extremely biased or unsafe, resulting in three demerit points), and Unfit (unsafe for play, leading to five demerit points and immediate suspension for the venue). A surface that receives five demerit points in five years would be for one year. And if any surface is rated as unfit, then it would be banned immediately.

The Jasprit Bumrah-led side won the series opener, which went for about four days. The hosts won the second Test match in Adelaide and thus leveled the series. The third Test match which was held at the Gabba provided a balanced pitch but the match ended in a tie owing to incessant rain.

The fourth Test match was Melbourne and it was considered since the match went on for about five days and all the results could have been achieved till the vast session.

The hosts did nothing wrong in making spicy pitches in Sydney as they took advantage of home conditions and won the series 3-1 and also qualified for the WTC final.