The curator of Lucknow’s Ekana Cricket Stadium has been fired after creating a “shocker of a pitch” for the second T20I against New Zealand. Though India won the game on Sunday with a ball to spare, skipper Hardik Pandya did not mince his words, calling the Lucknow wicket a “shocker”. New Zealand were limited to 99 for eight, and India struggled to chase the short mark on a twisting track. The curator has been replaced by Sanjeev Kumar Agarwal, a highly competent curator. We’ll have things back on track in a month.
“A lot of domestic cricket was already played on all the centre wickets ahead of the T20I and the curator should have left one or two strips for an international game. The surface was overused and due to the bad weather, there was not enough (time) to prepare a fresh wicket,” a UPCA source told PTI.
Agarwal, who previously produced pitches in Bangladesh before being fired in October of last year, has been charged with putting things right in terms of pitch-making. According to the source, he will collaborate closely with experienced BCCI curator Taposh Chatterjee.
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The last T20I of the series will be played on Wednesday in Ahmedabad. Hardik has been dissatisfied with the surfaces available so far in the series.
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“To be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket. Both the games we have played on so far. I don’t mind difficult wickets. I am all up for that, but these two wickets are not made for T20. Somewhere down the line, the curators or the grounds that we are going to play in should make sure they prepare the pitches earlier,” Hardik had said after the six-wicket win in Lucknow.
Also Read: IND vs NZ 1st T20: Washington Sundar takes incredible catch to dismiss Chapman; watch video
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