AUS vs PAK, 1st Test: ICC Rates Rawalpindi Pitch As 'Below Average'

The ICC Elite Panel's match referee Ranjan Madugalle has rated the cricketing pitch at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium as "below average".

Pakistan's Rawalpindi cricket stadium, Pic Courtesy: AFP via Getty Images

New Delhi: The first Test of the three-match Test series between Pakistan and Australia was played at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. Surprisingly, AUS vs PAK 1st Test lasted for five days, but only 14 wickets fell during the entire match that ended in a draw. The pitch for the series opener at Pindi stadium was so flat that four centuries and as many as half-centuries were scored there. Moreover, 6 out of the total 14 wickets that fell during the 1st Test were picked by one bowler alone.

Now, the ICC Elite Panel's match referee Ranjan Madugalle has rated the cricketing pitch at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium as "below average". Due to the rating, this stadium, used for the Pakistan vs Australia Test match, has got one demerit point as per the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.

"The character of the pitch hardly changed over the course of five days and that there has been no deterioration apart from the bounce getting slightly lower. The pitch did not have a great deal of pace and bounce in it for the seamers nor assisted the spinners as the match progressed," Ranjan Madugalle of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees stated in an official statement.

"In my view, this does not represent an even contest between bat and ball. Therefore, in keeping with the ICC guidelines, I rate this pitch as below average," he added.

Pakistan vs Australia 1st Test of the three-match series resulted in a draw on Tuesday. Pakistan openers Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique scored unbeaten tons as Pakistan scored 252 without losing any wicket on the fifth and final day. The 2nd Test between the two teams will start on Saturday at Karachi's National Stadium.