The second Test match between India and South Africa, which ended within two days on Thursday, with just 642 balls bowled, is the shortest completed Test match ever. Arguments about the pitch condition surfaced again after the match got over.
This time, Indian captain Rohit Sharma did not pull any punches. He said he “did not mind” playing in “challenging” pitches as long as everyone does not “talk too much about Indian pitches”. When pitches start “turning on Day 1 in India, people start talking about the puff of dust,” he complained, but no one spoke of the many cracks in Newlands pitch.
He said that the referees should rate pitches on “what they see and not based on the countries”.
Table 1 | The table shows the pitch ratings (in %) for Men’s Tests played between May 14, 2019 and December 26, 2023.
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An analysis of pitch ratings by the ICC in Men’s Tests during this period shows that Sharma’s accusations are borne out by facts. Of the Tests played in India, 25% were 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 were rated ‘below average’ or ‘poor’ whereas more than 10% of the Tests played in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka were rated as having been played on ‘below average’ or ‘poor’ pitches. Precisely 10% of the Tests played in Australia were rated as having been played on ‘poor’ pitches.
Also read: Rohit Sharma on par with AB de Villiers and Viv Richards in World Cup performances | Data
Chart 2 | The chart shows the share of wickets claimed by pace and spin bowlers in Tests played between May 14, 2019 and December 26, 2023 across host nations.
That a higher share of pitches in the Indian subcontinent receive below par ratings while others don’t shows a striking similarity to another aspect of the game. In India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, more than 50% of the wickets in Tests were claimed by spinners. In contrast, in New Zealand, South Africa, England, and West Indies, less than 25% were claimed by spinners. Australia is in the middle of the list in Table 1 and Chart 2.
One might argue that the pitches in the Indian subcontinent are actually poor and it is, in fact, a coincidence that the spinners also do well in the region. To clear this up, we analysed only those Test matches which was completed with relatively few balls bowled.
Table 3 | The table shows all the completed Tests between May 14, 2019 and December 26, 2023, which consumed 60% or less of the possible deliveries. In other words, pitch ratings of those Tests which took less than 1,634 balls (60% or less than the 2,700 possible deliveries in a 90 over 5-day Test) were listed. Innings victories were ignored to avoid one-sided games.
In the 2023 India versus Australia Indore Test, the pitch was rated ‘poor’. The game was completed in 1,135 balls with spinners from both teams taking most of the wickets. In contrast, in the 2022 England versus South Africa Test in Oval, which was completed in 909 balls, the pitch was rated ‘average’. All the wickets in the game were taken by pace bowlers.
In the 2020 New Zealand versus India Test at Christchurch, which was completed in 1,309 balls, the pitch was rated ‘good’. A majority of the wickets in the Test were taken by pace bowlers. In contrast, in the 2023 Bangladesh versus New Zealand Test in Mirpur, where spinners got most of the wickets and where the match got completed in 1,069 balls, the pitch was considered ‘poor’.
To sum up, spin-friendly pitches were in general rated poorly. Also, two similar pitches on which Tests were completed with a fewer number of balls were rated differently based on the type of bowling that dominated the matches.
vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in, rebecca.varghese@thehindu.co.in
Source: ESPNcricinfo’s Statsguru
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