Pitch ranking: Indian Captain Rohit Sharma inspecting the pitch throughout non-compulsory internet observe forward of The Final match of The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup India 2023 between India and Australia at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
| Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI
The second Test match between India and South Africa, which ended inside two days on Thursday, with simply 642 balls bowled, is the shortest accomplished Test match ever. Arguments about the pitch situation surfaced once more after the match received over. This time, Indian captain Rohit Sharma didn’t pull any punches. He stated he “did not mind” enjoying in “challenging” pitches so long as everybody doesn’t “talk too much about Indian pitches”. When pitches begin “turning on Day 1 in India, people start talking about the puff of dust,” he complained, however nobody spoke of the various cracks in Newlands pitch. He stated that the referees ought to price pitches on “what they see and not based on the countries”.
Table 1 | The desk reveals the pitch rankings (in %) for Men’s Tests performed between May 14, 2019 and December 26, 2023.
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An evaluation of pitch rankings by the ICC in Men’s Tests throughout this era reveals that Sharma’s accusations are borne out by information. Of the Tests performed in India, 25% have been rated ‘very good’, 13% ‘good’, 38% ‘average’, 13% ‘below average’, and 13% ‘poor’. None of the pitches in New Zealand, South Africa, England, and West Indies have been rated ‘below average’ or ‘poor’ whereas greater than 10% of the Tests performed in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have been rated as having been performed on ‘below average’ or ‘poor’ pitches. Precisely 10% of the Tests performed in Australia have been rated as having been performed on ‘poor’ pitches.
Chart 2 | The chart reveals the share of wickets claimed by tempo and spin bowlers in Tests performed between May 14, 2019 and December 26, 2023 throughout host nations.
That a better share of pitches in the Indian subcontinent obtain under par rankings whereas others don’t reveals a putting similarity to a different side of the sport. In India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, greater than 50% of the wickets in Tests have been claimed by spinners. In distinction, in New Zealand, South Africa, England, and West Indies, lower than 25% have been claimed by spinners. Australia is in the center of the listing in Table 1 and Chart 2.
One would possibly argue that the pitches in the Indian subcontinent are literally poor and it’s, in truth, a coincidence that the spinners additionally do properly in the area. To clear this up, we analysed solely these Test matches which was accomplished with comparatively few balls bowled.
Table 3 | The desk reveals all the finished Tests between May 14, 2019 and December 26, 2023, which consumed 60% or much less of the potential deliveries. In different phrases, pitch rankings of these Tests which took lower than 1,634 balls (60% or lower than the two,700 potential deliveries in a 90 over 5-day Test) have been listed. Innings victories have been ignored to keep away from one-sided video games.
In the 2023 India versus Australia Indore Test, the pitch was rated ‘poor’. The recreation was accomplished in 1,135 balls with spinners from each groups taking many of the wickets. In distinction, in the 2022 England versus South Africa Test in Oval, which was accomplished in 909 balls, the pitch was rated ‘average’. All the wickets in the sport have been taken by tempo bowlers.
In the 2020 New Zealand versus India Test at Christchurch, which was accomplished in 1,309 balls, the pitch was rated ‘good’. A majority of the wickets in the Test have been taken by tempo bowlers. In distinction, in the 2023 Bangladesh versus New Zealand Test in Mirpur, the place spinners received many of the wickets and the place the match received accomplished in 1,069 balls, the pitch was thought-about ‘poor’.
To sum up, spin-friendly pitches have been in normal rated poorly. Also, two related pitches on which Tests have been accomplished with a fewer variety of balls have been rated otherwise primarily based on the kind of bowling that dominated the matches.
vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in, rebecca.varghese@thehindu.co.in
Source: ESPNcricinfo’s Statsguru
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