India's final ODI against Sri Lanka abandoned due to unfit pitch

The final one-dayer between India and Sri Lanka was called off due to unfit playing conditions at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi today.

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Sri Lanka were put in to bat on a surface that had an uneven sprinkling of grass on it, and they were 83 for five in 23.3 overs when match officials deemed the surface too treacherous for play to continue.

Following a midfield conference between Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, his India counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the on-field umpires and match referee Alan Hurst, play was temporarily suspended.

The officials, who were joined by members of the staging association, headed for the pavilion for a closed-room discussion before the match was eventually called off.

The pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla was relaid in April but came in for fierce criticism during the Champions League and the one-day series against Australia due to its low bounce.

The groundsman had attempted to remedy the situation by binding it with winter grass in time for this game but only succeeded in making matters worse.

India had already taken a 3-1 lead in the five-match series going into today's match.

The last time a game was called off in similar circumstances in India was more than 12 years ago in Indore. Sri Lanka were the visiting team that time, too.