Lucknow Curator was reportedly fired after the 22-yard pitch for India vs. New Zealand 2nd T20I provided excessive turn for both sides’ spinners, making scoring nearly impossible. After batting first, New Zealand could only manage 99 for 8 in 20 overs as the Indian spinners dominated. Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Hooda, and Yuzvendra Chahal bowled 13 overs to help India defeat New Zealand.
The situation for India’s batters was no better. They stuttered and huffed their way to the chase. In the end, it was Suryakumar Yadav’s boundary in the penultimate ball of the match that helped India level the series. India received a heavy dose of spin from New Zealand. Captain Mitchell Santner, leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, all-rounder Michael Bracewell, and part-timers Mark Chapman and Glenn Phillipps bowled 17 overs each.
Spinners bowled 30 overs out of 39.5 overs, missing the world record by just three overs. Hardik Pandya, India’s captain, described the pitch as a “shocker” after India’s six-wicket victory.
“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,” Pandya said.
According to The Indian Express, the Indian team management asked the Lucknow Curator to change the pitch at the last minute.
“According to the sources, the curator had prepared two black soil pitches for the game in advance. However, at the behest of a last-minute request from team management three days prior to the match, the curator had been asked to prepare a fresh pitch made of red soil instead. The new pitch could not be adequately prepared on short notice, and led to even slower conditions,” said the report.
According to the report, Sanjeev Agarwal of Gwalior has been appointed as the Lucknow Curator with IPL 2023 in mind. The Lucknow Super Giants will play their home matches at the venue, which the BCCI cannot afford.
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