Chinnaswamy Stadium receives demerit point for 'below average' pitch used for second Test

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has rated the pitch at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium used for the Day-Night second Test between India and Sri Lanka as 'below average' following the report from match referee Javagal Srinath.

The match saw fall of 39 wickets across four innings ended in less than three days as India won the match by 238 runs.

"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 his report, which was forwarded to the BCCI.

Bengaluru received a demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.

One demerit point will be awarded to venues whose pitches are rated by the match referees as below average, while three and five demerit points will be awarded to venues whose pitches are marked as poor and unfit, respectively. Demerit points will remain active for a rolling five-year period and venues which accumulate five or more, will be suspended from hosting international matches for a period of 12 months.

Recently, the pitch at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium which hosted the first Test between Pakistan and Australia also received a demerit point for a 'below average' pitch.