After the 2nd T20I between India and New Zealand at Lucknow’s Ekana Sports Stadium, reports are surfacing that a groundsman has been fired.
Apparently, the pitch was a bizarre one for the 2nd T20I. India managed to reach the target of 100 with one ball and six wickets to spare.
It also became the first Indian stadium where a single six was not hit during a T20I match. In T20Is, six-hitting is a very important aspect of the game.
But, during the second T20I, during the 30 overs that were played, no sixes were hit by either side.
Because of such a scenario, the pitch at Lucknow has come under the scanner.
Says India skipper, Hardik Pandya,
To be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket.
Adding further, he says,
I don’t mind difficult wickets. I am all up for that, but somewhere down the line curators or the grounds that we are going to play in should make sure they prepare the pitches earlier.
According to media reports, the head curator by the name of Surinder has been fired by the Ekana administration.
Ekana Administrator clears the air on the head curator being axed
However, Udai Sinha who is the managing director of Ekana’s sporting infrastructure has cleared the rumors and says that they have not fired Surinder but only replaced him.
The new head curator of Ekana Sports Stadium is Sanjeev Agarwal.
We haven’t taken anybody’s job. We have just brought in Sanjeev as the head curator to oversee the pitch preparation.
The win at Lucknow saw India level the series 1-1 with the final T20I at Ahmedabad tomorrow.
Former India cricketer, Gautam Gambhir also had his say on the pitch at Lucknow. He says,
Let’s be very honest, it was a sub-standard wicket and not a T20 wicket.
Adds Gambhir,
You don’t expect this kind of purchase from the spinners and it was tough.
For many times now, foreign teams visiting India have complained about the state of pitches in the country that more or less favors the hosts.
However, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner called the wicket at Lucknow ‘definitely something different’ and the pitch ‘challenging.’
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