Currently, the Indian team is playing three T20I match series with New Zealand, which is tied at 1-1. The second match of the series was played on 29th January at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. This match was very disappointing for the fans and both the teams because this match was a low-scoring thriller, and only the bowlers enjoyed bowling on this pitch.
In the second T20I match, the teams could reach only approx. 100. The great thing is that the teams could not even hit a six on this pitch. The New Zealand team had given a target of 100 runs while playing on this ground. In reply, the Indian team also struggled to the last over, chased down the target, and won the match by 6 wickets.
This pitch type is rarely seen in any T20 match in India, where batters struggle for each run. This match between India and New Zealand also made a record, 239 balls were bowled in this match, and not a single six were hit. This was the fifth major such occasion in any T20 match when this happened. During this, 16 batters batted in the match and scored only 183 runs. Only 14 boundaries were hit in the entire match.
Indian skipper Hardik Pandya stated his annoyance regarding this pitch after the match.
“To be honest, this one wicket was shocking. I don’t mind tough wickets. I’m all set for it, I am fully ready for this, but both these wickets were not made for T20.” Hardik said.
The news comes from the sources that the Ekana Stadium management decided to remove the pitch curator from his post.
Team India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambre also strongly criticized the pitch. According to sources, the pitch curator had prepared two black soil pitches at Ekana Stadium. But a few days before the match, the Indian team management had asked him to make a red clay pitch. In such a situation, the time was very less. Despite this, the pitch curator hastily prepared a red clay pitch. But this pitch could not be made according to the right standard. And as a result, we have witnessed a big turning wicket.
