On Wednesday (Janaury 8), a press release from Cricket Australia disclosed the ratings given by the ICC for the five pitches used throughout the series. The wickets for the first four Tests in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne have all received the top rating of "very good", while the pitch in Sydney has received the second-highest rating of "satisfactory".

The surface for this Test raised a few eyebrows with the amount of grass left on the wicket – not a traditional sight in Sydney. CA head of cricket operations and scheduling Peter Roach outlined the approach: "We encourage pitches that bring out the unique characteristics of that venue and this has long been a feature of Australian cricket. We strongly believe that this is one of the reasons that Test cricket is so popular in Australia.

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"The SCG has been striving to bring out their unique characteristics of early pace and bounce before the pitch wears and spins. This year was a step in the right direction to achieving this which provided an exciting finish to the Border Gavaskar Trophy series and bodes well for the Ashes summer in 2025-26."

Roach went on to clarify: "We don't look to prepare wickets that favour the home side or suit our situation in a series. What we seek is a good contest between bat and ball and pitches that are likely to produce a result. Weather obviously plays a significant part in preparation and we know that even our most skilled curators are challenged at times by adverse weather."

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Michael Clarke: It was the worst pitch I've ever seen in Sydney

Concerns were raised over the state of the wicket when significant seam movement and inconsistent bounce was visible throughout the Test match, not just early on. In addition, this was the shortest Test with a result at the venue since 1894/95, and did not see a single team total of over 200.

Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke, who hails from Sydney, was scathing in his assessment of the wicket on January 8, saying on ESPN's Around the Wicket show, "The SCG is my favourite ground in the world, it's my home ground and I hate saying this out loud.

"But that's the worst pitch I've ever seen in Sydney. I didn't think it was a good cricket wicket. Balls, not just going up off the surface but also shooting low at the end of day two.

"And of course, Australia wins so I'm not complaining. But if we went to India and they produced a wicket like that in regards to a raging turner when the game was over in two and a half days, I think all Australian cricket fans would be kicking up a stink. So I think we just have to be a little bit careful as well."

India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was also hit multiple times on the body while batting during the first innings of the fifth Test, and the track had come in for criticism from Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar – the two legends for whom the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is named.

Gavaskar said "all hell would have broken loose" if 15 wickets fell on the second day of a Test in India, while Border felt that "as a batsman, it's a bit of a lottery" and it was "probably too bowler-friendly".

According to the ICC's pitch ratings, the last wicket to receive an "unsatisfactory" rating was the one at the De Beers Diamond Oval in Kimberley, used for the first ODI between South Africa and England's women's teams on December 4, 2024. That was also the last pitch to be deemed "unfit", the lowest possible rating, after being used for the second ODI between South Africa and Sri Lanka Women on April 13, 2024.

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