ICC issues warning over Nagpur pitch

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday gave an official warning to Jamtha Stadium in Nagpur, under their Pitch Monitoring Process, which hosted the third Test between India and South Africa from November 25 to 27.

The sanction took into consideration that there had been no concerns about the performance of the pitch after any of the other international matches played at this venue.

In reaching the verdict, the ICC agreed with the "poor" rating given to the pitch by match referee Jeff Crowe, who observed that the pitch did not allow a fair contest between bat and ball.

The finding was made by ICC General Manager - Cricket Geoff Allardice and ICC chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle after watching footage of the match, reviewing the post-match reports from Crowe and considering the response provided by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Crowe on December 1 submitted a report to the ICC stating that the pitch for the Test was "poor", triggering a review of the performance of the pitch. The report was forwarded to BCCI which had two weeks to give its response.

India won the Test by 124 runs in which the hosts scored 215 and 173 while South Africa scored 79 and 185. The match got over in only three days.