The curator of the Lucknow pitch has been fired. The Ekana Stadium pitch curator reportedly lost his job after the second T20I between India and New Zealand. According to additional reports, a brand-new pitch will be made especially for the upcoming IPL tournament. The Indian Premier League team Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) calls the Ekana Stadium home.
However, the concerned curator claims he received last-minute instructions to switch the wicket, according to a report in the Indian Express. According to the report, the team management asked for a red soil playing surface three days prior to the game, which caused the surface to be slower. Two black soil wickets that the curator had prepared were not used.
Because of its unplayable conditions, the Lucknow Pitch sparked a raging controversy. In addition to India team captain Hardik Pandya, former India cricketer and LSG team coach Gautam Gambhir also berated the pitch conditions. The pitch curator was fired as a result of the incident, and a new pitch would be constructed for the IPL competition.
“To be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket,” Pandya said at the post-match presentation. “Both the games we have played 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.
“Even 120 would have been a winning total here. Dew didn’t play much of a role because if you see they were able to spin the ball more than us. It was a shocker of a wicket. The ball was flying for even the fast bowlers,” he added.
