Zaheer Khan, the coach of the Lucknow Super Giants, criticized the field at the Ekana International Stadium after Monday’s crushing loss to the Punjab Kings. According to Zaheer, it appeared that the curator intended to present a pitch that gave the Punjab Kings a greater advantage over the Super Giants.
After choosing to field first, Punjab Kings quickly penetrated the Super Giants’ batting order, cutting them to 35/3 at one point. The visiting team only took down the target in 16.2 overs, despite a counterattack by Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, and Abdul Samad that brought their team to 171/7.
“What was a little disappointing for me here…Considering it’s a home game and in IPL you’ve seen how teams have looked at taking a little bit of home advantage, from that point of view you’ve seen the curator is not really thinking that it’s a home game. I think maybe it looked like, you know, it was Punjab curator out here. So that’s something which we will figure. It’s a new set-up also for me, but I hope that this is the first and the last game when it comes to that. Because you are disappointing the Lucknow fans as well.”
Zaheer Khan
Due to the historically favorable conditions for spinners, players like Digvijay Rathi, Ravi Bishnoi, and Manimaran Siddharth barely made any inroads. Of those, only Rathi took wickets, catching the two to fall.
“We still have six more games to go here” – Zaheer Khan
Zaheer admitted that the Super Giants must accept the defeat and that creative thinking will be necessary to win again, adding:
“As a team, we are confident. We accept that we’ve lost the game, and we have got to do whatever it takes to make that impact in the home leg. We still have six more games to go here, and this team has shown in the season so far, whatever little cricket is played, that we have the right outlook and the mindset to look at the IPL. What you can expect is innovation, out-of-the-box thinking, the fight, the hunger, and that sums us up as a team.”
Zaheer Khan
The next home game for the Lucknow Super Giants is against the Mumbai Indians on Friday, April 4.
