LSG mentor Khan slams Lucknow groundsmen for not preparing pitch to assist hosts leading to embarrassing eight-wicket defeat to Punjab Kings
PBKS players celebrate LSG skipper Rishabh Pant’s (third from left) dismissal on Tuesday. Pic/PTI
Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) mentor Zaheer Khan has joined a couple of other teams that have criticised the curators for failing to cater to the needs of the home sides in the ongoing IPL. There have been instances of tussle between the curator and the team management over preparing a pitch that provides the hosts with so-called home advantage.
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No home advantage
First, it was Kolkata Knight Riders and then Chennai Super Kings who vented their frustration over the curators not catering to the needs of the home teams. That has led to a lot of heartburn between the curators and the teams, with KKR having expressed a desire for more spin-friendly surfaces, while CSK, despite having the best home win-loss ratio in IPL history, faced difficulty in predicting conditions at their own ground, as revealed by coach Stephen Fleming after the defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Chepauk on Friday.
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Zaheer Khan
On Tuesday night, it was Zaheer Khan who felt that the pitch was not prepared to the liking of the home team. Though Zaheer did not specify the type of surface the home side wanted, apparently, the spin-heavy LSG bowling attack expected a bit more turn on the red clay pitch at the Ekana Stadium. Consequently, the LSG bowlers were ineffective as Punjab Kings raced away to the target of 172 in a mere 16.2 overs for the loss of only two wickets.
Speaking to the media after Punjab Kings beat the hosts, Zaheer Khan said the pitch did not seem ‘tailored’ for the home team. “What was a little disappointing for me here, considering it’s a home game and in the 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 it’s a home game. Maybe it looked like it was Punjab’s curator out here,” said a frustrated Zaheer.
Despite Zaheer’s contention, the fact remains that LSG’s performance was not up to the mark, the condition of the pitch notwithstanding. While Punjab are being led from the front by Shreyas Iyer, an out-of-form Rishabh Pant has been out of sorts while handling his team.
There is, thus, little doubt that more than the pitch, it’s the way LSG played under Pant that was the reason for their below-par performance against Punjab Kings.
‘We will bounce back’
Zaheer acknowledged the chasm between expectations of the fans and the performance on the field, promising that LSG would come back strong. “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 mindset to look at the IPL [positively],” he said.
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