Team India’s last-minute request resulted in ‘shocker’ pitch, curator will get the sack

After India trudged over the road to chase 100 runs with one ball to spare, to stage the T20 sequence 1-1 towards New Zealand on Sunday, the pitch curator at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium has been sacked, in line with sources within the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA).

Following the six-wicket win, India skipper Hardik Pandya known as the pitch “a shocker of a wicket”, that noticed spin bowled for 30 out of 39.5 overs, and a grand whole of 200 runs scored on it.

The India skipper was additionally sad concerning the state of the pitch in Ranchi’s JSCA Stadium, one other turner the place India suffered a 21-run defeat by the hands of the Kiwis. “Both the games (pitches) we have played on so far (have been shockers). 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,” he added.

.@surya_14kumar hits the successful runs as #TeamIndia safe a 6-wicket win in Lucknow & stage the #INDvNZ T20I sequence 1️⃣-1️⃣

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/p7C0QbPSJs#INDvNZ | @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/onXTBVc2Wu

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 29, 2023

According to the sources, the curator had ready two black soil pitches for the sport upfront. However, on the behest of a last-minute request from staff administration three days previous to the match,the curator had been requested to arrange a contemporary pitch manufactured from purple soil as a substitute. The new pitch couldn’t be adequately ready on brief discover, and led to even slower circumstances.

The pitch curation was topic to heavy criticism following Sunday’s match with Team India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey echoing the issues of Pandya when requested concerning the circumstances. “The curator is the right person to answer that question (on pitch),” he mentioned. “There was a little grass covering on the middle, but there was none on both ends. When we came yesterday, it looked like it would turn and we realised it would be challenging.” Gautam Gambhir, mentor of the Lucknow Super Giants IPL franchise, known as it a “sub-standard wicket” on Star Sports studio.

The pitch curator in Lucknow has now been changed by Sanjeev Agarwal from Gwalior, in a bid to have it prepared forward of the return of home-and-away fixtures within the IPL in March.

Meanwhile, Pandya’s aspect will now put together to take New Zealand within the sequence decider on the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad amid heightened scrutiny of the standard of the floor they play on, and the power of India’s new-look T20 batting order to take care of turning tracks.

In the ultimate T20I earlier than the IPL kicks off, it stays to be seen whether or not Prithvi Shaw – contemporary off a triple century within the Ranji Trophy this month – will get a glance into the aspect.

With Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul out of the staff, each Shubhman Gill and Ishan Kishan – on the again of their very own ODI double centuries – have been trusted to guide the highest order for India alongside Rahul Tripathi. The trio have scored a mixed whole 54 runs within the two matches.