IND vs NZ: Last-Minute Request From Team India Led To A “Shocker” Pitch; Lucknow Curator Gets Sacked: Reports

Updated - 31 Jan 2023, 01:29 PM

The curator has been fired with immediate consequence as a result of the curator's terrible Lucknow pitch. Image: Wikipedia

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The Lucknow pitch, which stand-in captain Hardik Pandya and analysts gave relatively unfavourable assessments, had an effect, and the curator was fired with immediate effect.

This occurred after India needed 19.5 overs to complete the run chase after New Zealand could only muster 99 runs while batting first.

India vs New Zealand — Image Credits: Twitter

The second Twenty20 International between India and New Zealand was played on a poor track, and according to reports, the pitch curator at Lucknow’s Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium has been fired with immediate effect.

New Zealand struggled to a score of 99 while batting first, and it took the Indian team 19.5 overs to chase down the goal of 100 runs. Hardik Pandya, the captain, called the pitch “a horror” after the game, in which 30 overs of spin were bowled out of 39.5 total. The hosts crossed the finish line “just.”

According to The Indian Express, pitch curator Surender Kumar was fired immediately, and Sanjeev Agarwal will now take over the post. According to the report, the curator had prepared two black-soil pitches but was ordered by team management three days before the game to lay a red soil field, but it couldn’t be prepared well enough for the game, and the rest is history.

Team India played three spinners and used Deepak Hooda as their fourth:

No batter—not even Suryakumar Yadav, who is in the great form of his life—was able to comprehend the nature of the surface or adapt to its pace as the pitch became square. While New Zealand also used four spinners, including part-timer Glenn Phillips, Team India used three spinners and added Deepak Hooda as their fourth.

As per Dainik Jagran, all nine pitches at the Ekana Stadium will be relaid before the 2023 edition of the IPL, when home and away matches will resume.

Also Read: IND vs NZ: “Prithvi Shaw Has The Flair”- Danish Kaneria