Kanpur gets ICC setback; Chennai pitch ‘very good’, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru…

The outfield for the Greenpark Stadium in Kanpur received an “unsatisfactory” rating from ICC. Only 35 overs of play were possible on the first day of the Test match between India and Bangladesh, with no play occurring on either the second or third days, despite no rain during the scheduled hours on day three. In the days leading up to the match, the state’s public works department deemed one of the stands at Green Park Stadium unsafe, leading officials to allow only a limited number of upper-level seats for spectators.
The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) operates Green Park Stadium under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Uttar Pradesh government. While the government owns the land, the MoU designates the UPCA as responsible for the stadium’s management and maintenance.
Regarding the pitch for this Test match, it received a “satisfactory” rating.
The ICC rated Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium pitch, used for India’s Test match against Bangladesh, as “very good” with other four home centres used during the season being deemed “satisfactory”.
In fact, all the three Test venues used against New Zealand — Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy, Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune’s Gahunje and Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai — just about managed “satisfactory” ratings from the ICC match referee.
The high-scoring tracks at Gwalior, Delhi and Hyderabad used for Bangladesh T20Is were rated “very good”, as they conformed to the requirements of the shortest format.
However, the Indian team management, the BCCI and local curators wouldn’t be too amused to know that former Australia opener David Boon couldn’t rate any of the Test match tracks used against New Zealand beyond “satisfactory”.
The Chinnaswamy pitch had excessive moisture that led to India being all out for 46 against New Zealand while both Pune and Mumbai tracks were “rank turners”, which didn’t strictly follow the norms prescribed for a ‘Good Test’ match wicket.
But the two tracks escaped with satisfactory ratings because of some good individual batting performances from players of both sides.