IND vs NZ: Hardik Pandya slams Lucknow pitch, calls it a ‘shocker’ following series-leveling win

The pitch on offer during the second T20I between India and New Zealand was no less than a shocker, said India’s stand-in captain Hardik Pandya. As India somehow managed to chase down a mere target of 100 just inside 20 overs, captain Pandya didn’t mince his words while going hard on the curators for preparing a surface he felt wasn’t best for T20 cricket. With a six-wicket win on Sunday in Lucknow, India levelled the three-match T20Is 1-1 with the decider to be played in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, February 1st.

Deciding to bat first after winning the toss, New Zealand batters felt the wrath of the pitch at the Ekana Stadium from the word do. So much so that only five fours were hit during Kiwi innings, let alone hitting a six. As Indian bowlers made most of it, they held New Zealand to paltry total of 99 for eight in 20 overs.

India’s chase wasn’t easy either. The openers had their struggles as Gill got out on 11 while both Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tripathi ate many balls just to put up 19 and 13 to their names, respectively. Suryakumar Yadav, who is known to accelerate from ball one, could find just one boundary. Pandya and Washington Sundar also contributed little with bat as India hunt down 100 runs with just one ball to spare.

Speaking to the media after the match, Pandya said, “To be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket. 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,” the stand-in captain added.

As the T20I series is now levelled with one match to go, India will aim to finish it on a high with a win to their name. While India will be involved in a Test series after this, their next white-ball assignment will be against Australia at home in the three-match ODIs, starting March 17th in Mumbai.