The Indian skipper, Hardik Pandya seems pretty unhappy with the Lucknow pitch, saying it was a shocker of a wicket that wasn’t made for T20 cricket. India registered a 6-wicket win over New Zealand in Lucknow to level the three-match T20I series 1-1. Speaking after the match, Pandya said he always believed that India would be able to finish the game, insisting that it was about rotating the strike rather than taking the pressure.
As per the quotes in India Today, Hardik Pandya said, “I always believed that we’ll be able to finish the game, but it went quite late. You don’t need to panic because it was about rotating the strike rather than taking the pressure. That’s exactly what we did. We followed our basics. To be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket. Both the games we have played so far. I am all up for that, but these two wickets are not made for T20.”
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Hardik Pandya also expressed that the win made him happy as he praised the performance of the Indian bowlers. India restricted New Zealand to just 99/8 in the first innings and chased down their target with 6 wickets and one ball remaining.
Explaining the same, Hardik Pandya said, “Other than that, I’m happy. Even 120 would have been a winning total. Bowlers – they stuck to their plans and ensured they did not rotate the strike. We kept rotating the spinners. Dew didn’t play much part in this. They were able to spin the ball more than us. It was carrying through well. It was a shocker of a wicket.”
Former batter Gautam Gambhir was also critical of the pitch in Lucknow. After being put in to bat first, the Black Caps huffed and puffed to 99 for the loss of eight wickets. Thereafter, India took 19.5 overs to go past the finish line. Suryakumar Yadav scored an unbeaten 26 and won the Player of the Match award.
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Gautam Gambhir was clear-cut in saying that the pitch in Lucknow wasn’t suited for T20 cricket as the spinners were getting a lot of assistance from the surface. He explained, “Let’s be very honest, it was a sub-standard wicket and not a T20 wicket. You don’t expect this kind of purchase from the spinners and it was tough.”
However, Gambhir, who retired from all forms of cricket in December 2018, felt that the Indian batters could have played better against the quality spin-bowling that the Kiwis had for the game.
Elaborating the same, Gambhir said, “When you are chasing 100, your ability to play spin, your ability to rotate the strike comes into the picture. I was surprised by the way Indian batters played against spin. They could have played much better and shouldn’t have taken that deep.”
While being on air in Hindi commentary, Gambhir, who is the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL, cheekily made a remark saying that the opener Quinton de Kock might rethink his decision to play in the 2023 edition seeing the pitch. “If Quinton de Kock sees this pitch, [it is possible that] he might not come to play IPL.” However, Gambhir’s co-commentator Mohammad Kaif was quick to comment, “No, no he will come to play. He will come to play IPL.”
After leveling the series in Lucknow, India and New Zealand will be locking horns with each other in the third and final game of the series set to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 1.
