Miandad calls Champions Trophy pitches 'dangerous'

Javed Miandad, the former captain and current director of the Pakistan board, has termed the pitches used in the ICC Champions Trophy as "dangerous" and said they will adversely affect interest in one-day cricket.

"[With] the sort of scary pitches they have prepared for such a big event it is not going to help the ICC or its members keep interest in one-day internationals alive," Miandad said. "Some of the pitches they have played on can be ranked as dangerous. The bounce is inconsistent. Balls are kicking up from a good length. All this is not good for the survival of ODIs.

"People want to see fast-paced cricket and lots of runs and excitement and that is lacking generally in this tournament because of the inconsistent nature of pitches."

Miandad called for ICC's intervention when it came to pitches and ground conditions for big events. "The ICC is quick to monitor the pitches in member countries, but they also need to talk to their curators about the pitches in the Champions Trophy.

"Even the length of boundaries is varying at the two grounds. They should have more venues for the tournament. Too many matches at one venue is adding to the problems," he said.

Miandad said the toss at the venue gave an unfair advantage and made the matches one-sided. However, out of the eight completed matches so far, the sides winning the toss have won only four times.

Before the start of the tournament, there was a lot of debate over the sustainability of one-day cricket, with Sachin Tendulkar suggesting the format be altered to have two innings of 25 overs each. The general response to Champions Trophy was expected to play a major role in deciding the future of ODIs.