ICC rates Indore track as "poor", venue gets 3 demerit points
Indore, Mar 3: The ICC on Friday rated the pitch used for the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test match at the Holkar Stadium as "poor" after Australia beat India by nine wickets in a little over two days.
The poor rating also earned Indore, three demerit points and will remain active for five years rolling period.
India were all out for 109 and 163 in their two innings while Australia managed 197 in their first essay before knocking off the required 76 runs for a win on the third morning.
"ICC Match Referee Chris Broad submitted his report to the ICC expressing the concerns of the match officials and after consulting with captains of both teams. Following the assessment, the venue has received three demerit points," the release issued by the global body stated.
The consultation with the two captains Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith meant that both concurred with Broad's assessment that it couldn't be termed a pitch which is good advertisement for international cricket.
The report has been forwarded to the BCCI, who now have 14 days if they wish to appeal against the sanction.
Broad said: "The pitch, which was very dry, did not provide a balance between bat and ball, favouring spinners from the start.
"The fifth ball of the match broke through the pitch surface and continued to occasionally break the surface providing little or no seam movement and there was excessive and uneven bounce throughout the match."
India had lost seven wickets in the first session itself with the ball turning square during the opening half an hour.
While most of the experts have panned the pitch, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said that he has no regrets playing on a result oriented track and hinted that he won't mind if something on similar lines is on offer for the final game in Ahmedabad.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
