Over the last four and a half years, Indian pitches have received the highest percentage of ‘Average’ or lower ratings in men’s Test matches.

Cape Town pitch rated “Unsatisfactory”

The Newlands Test match between South Africa and India has reignited the heated pitch debate. The game, which turned out to be the shortest completed Test in the history of the game, lasted one and a half days with seamers ruling the roost on a lively surface.

India captain Rohit Sharma was vocal in criticism of the double standards with respect to pitches after the game. He was clear about not minding playing on surfaces like Cape Town as long as people “keep their mouths shut” when welcomed with turning tracks in India.

Given the extreme nature of the Cape Town Test, it was widely expected that the pitch would receive an “Unfit” rating from match referee Chris Broad, but it got away with “Unsatisfactory”, which amounted to one demerit point.

ICC’s pitch-rating system

According to the latest ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process update in November 2023, pitches for Test matches can be given one of the following four ratings: Very Good, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory, and Unfit.

However, the previous pitch rating system which was in place, had six categories – Very Good, Good, Average, Below Average, Poor, and Unfit.

An ‘Average’ rating was given to pitches that lacked carry, bounce, and/or seam movement, while still being consistent with them. ‘Below Average’ ratings were given to pitches with “Either very little carry and/or bounce and/or more than occasional seam movement, or occasional variable (but not excessive or dangerous) bounce and/or occasional variable carry,” irrespective of the degree of turn the pitch offered (if any of the above parameters were met).

‘Poor’ ratings were reserved for pitches that “that did not allow an even contest between bat and ball,” while ‘Unfit’ was/is given to dangerous pitches.

The pitch rating analysis for this piece has been done based on the previous system. For the ease of calculation, Cape Town’s “Unsatisfactory” rating has been equated to a “Below Average” rating from the previous system.

India with the most ‘Average’ or lower rated pitches

Since July 2019*, when the first edition of the World Test Championship began, Indian pitches have received the highest percentage of ‘Average’ or lower ratings in Tests.

Seven out of the 18 Tests India hosted in this period were given a pitch rating of 'Average'. The Bengaluru pitch for the India vs Sri Lanka pink-ball Test match got a 'Below Average' rating, while the Indore pitch for the third India vs Australia Test in 2023 was one of the only two pitches to get a 'Poor' rating in the last four and a half years, along with the Mirpur pitch that hosted the second 2nd Bangladesh-New Zealand Test in December 2023.

Second on the list are West Indian pitches: six out of 15 have received 'Average' or lower ratings since July 2019*. Interestingly, all six of these games have come since March 2022, implying an overall deterioration of the quality of pitches in the Caribbean in the last couple of years.

Pitches in SENA countries received better ratings overall

Nearly 80 percent of men's Tests played in the 'SENA' countries since July 2019* have received either 'Good' or 'Very Good' ratings, a whole 10 points more than what subcontinent pitches have received.As mentioned above, the only two 'Poor' (now 'Unfit') rated pitches in this period were both subcontinent surfaces.

India worst among subcontinent countries

Among the four subcontinent teams, Indian pitches have received the worst ratings.

Nearly 90 percent of the pitches used in the Tests played in Sri Lanka have been given ratings of 'Good' or 'Very Good'. In fact, apart from India, each of the three countries in the subcontinent has got at least 70 percent of 'Good' or 'Very Good' ratings for their pitches. India, on the other hand, have managed only 50 percent.

Here is the complete breakdown of pitch ratings for men's Tests played in each country in the last four and a half years.

*excludes South Africa versus India, Centurion 2023/24 and Australia versus Pakistan, Sydney 2023/24 Test matches, for which the ratings are not known

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