The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) pitch, used for the recent fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), has managed to received a 'satisfactory' rating from the International Cricket Council (ICC) despite rolling out one of the spiciest wickets of this century.

The global cricket body has rated all other four BGT venues – Optus Stadium in Perth, Adelaide Oval, the Gabba in Brisbane, and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) – 'very good.'

In 2023, the ICC revamped its pitch rating system, reducing it from six categories to four - very good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory and unfit.

Confirming the ratings, Peter Roach, Cricket Australia's head of cricket operations and scheduling said, "We are delighted by the quality of pitches produced for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and grateful for all the hard work of the curators and venues across the country."

"We encourage pitches that bring out the unique characteristics of that venue and this has long been a feature of Australian cricket. We strongly believe that this is one of the reasons that Test cricket is so popular in Australia.," he added.

"We don’t look to prepare wickets that favour the home side or suit our situation in a series. What we seek is a good contest between bat and ball and pitches that are likely to produce a result," he further said.

The SCG pitch, which presented a returfed square and new variety of grass, assisted the pacers of either side in the crucial series decider, with Australia hammering India by six wickets inside three days to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2014, and also confirmed their place in the ICC World Test Championship final against South Africa at the Lord's in June, this year.

The pitch came under criticism from several former cricketers of both sides, after heaps of wickets fell on the first two days - 11 on the opening day and 15 on the second, with Sunil Gavaskar stating that it was not an ideal Test track. Only two half-centuries were scored, one from debutant Beau Webster and the other a stunning 33-ball counterattack by Rishabh Pant in India's second essay.

"This is not the ideal Test match pitch that you want because you want it to go into a fourth and fifth day. If 15 wickets fell (on one day) in India, all hell would have broken loose. We had Glenn McGrath saying he'd never seen so much grass. Did you hear any former India cricketer moan about the pitch?," the former India captain, who was commentating during the series, said. Only two half-centuries were scored, one from debutant Beau Webster and the other a stunning 33-ball counterattack by Rishabh Pant.

Apart from McGrath, a few other Australia players were also surprised at the SCG offering such a pitch for the crucial tie. While opener Usman Khawaja termed it a stinker, Steve Smith who has been stranded at 9999 runs, said it was the toughest pitch he saw in Sydney.

"I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t want to talk about it too much beforehand, but the wicket was a stinker. It wasn’t like a traditional SCG wicket with the new grass on it, there’s cracks all over it, it’s been tough batting, the scoreboard will tell you that. Thankfully we were on the right side of the win but when it’s a wicket like that you’re always on a knife edge," the 38-year-old Khawaja told ABC Radio.

Smith, who was dismissed one shy of becoming the 15th player to join the elusive 10,000-run club in Test cricket, said, "By a mile. It was two-paced, up and down, seaming all over the place, swinging. I’ve never played on a wicket like that at the SCG before. It was incredibly difficult to bat."

This is the second season in a row that the SCG has been rated satisfactory after receiving the same mark for the Pakistan Test a year ago.