The Newlands pitch, in Cape Town, was rated 'unsatisfactory' by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday (8 January) after the low-scoring ICC World Test Championship match between South Africa and India.
The development comes after the shortest-ever completed Test match, with 642 balls bowled in total, took place at Newlands.
Mohammed Siraj's 6/15 helped India blow away South Africa for 55 in their first innings, while India took a 98-run lead after posting 153 in reply.
A brilliant counter-attacking hundred from Aiden Markram was not enough in the third innings as India were set to chase only 79. The visitors clinched victory by seven wickets on day two.
“The pitch in Newlands was very difficult to bat on," ICC Match Referee Chris Broad said in his report. "The ball bounced quickly and sometimes alarmingly throughout the match, making it difficult to play shots. Several batters were hit on the gloves and many wickets also fell due to the awkward bounce.”
In the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process, if a pitch or outfield is rated as substandard, that venue is allocated certain demerit points.
One demerit point is awarded to venues whose pitches and outfields are rated by the match referee as unsatisfactory.
If a venue reaches six demerit points, it is suspended from hosting any international cricket for 12 months. The penalty is 24 months in case of 12 demerit points. These points remain active for a rolling five-year period.
Cricket South Africa have 14 days to appeal against the sanction.