Bengaluru pitch for India-Lanka 2nd Test rated as below average

Dubai: Match referee Javagal Srinath has rated the pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru that was used for the second Test between India and Sri Lanka as "below average".

The venue has thus received one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process. The final Test between India and Sri Lanka saw 16 wickets falling on the opening day and the islanders getting thrashed inside three days in Bengaluru.

"The pitch offered a lot of turn on the first day itself and though it improved with every session, in my view, it was not an even contest between bat and ball," Srinath said in a statement. Srinath's report has been forwarded to the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

In the revised ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, which was introduced on January 4, 2018, if a pitch or outfield is rated as being substandard, that venue will be allocated a number of demerit points.