The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) could be fined almost 20,000 Australian dollars for producing a "poor" first India-Australia Test match pitch in Pune, Maharashtra.
Pune pitch rated as 'poor' by ICC match referee
The Test finished inside three days with Australia securing a 333-run victory.
Former leg spinner Shane Warne likened the pitch to ‘the surface of Mars’, after it provided enormous assistance to both Australian and Indian spinners, reports The Guardian.
It may be recalled that left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe spun the visitors to a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series by claiming 12 wickets for 70, the best ever match figures by a visiting spinner in India.
Local media has alleged that Pune curator Pandurang Salgaonkar was forced to kowtow to BCCI chief curator Daljit Singh. One daily claimed that ground staff at Pune were ordered to doctor the pitch, including the use of metallic brushes to scuff up the dry deck.
Match referee Chris Broad branded the pitch "poor" in his formal report and the BCCI now has 14 days to provide a response to the International Cricket Council, which will then review the matter and has the power to issue a warning or a fine of Australian dollars 19,500.
