India defeated New Zealand in the second T20I by six wickets. But the Men in Blue were made to sweat hard by the New Zealand bowlers for every run they scored. While India put on a dominant show with the ball in hand, New Zealand bowlers too capitalized on the assistance from the pitch in Lucknow and made India feel the taste of their own medicine.
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Although India won the game, captain Hardik Pandya was pretty vocal about the quality of the pitch produced. Pandya said it was a “shocker of a wicket” in both the T20Is. Later, reports emerged that the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) sacked the pitch curator from his job and a new person was given the post.
A few reports also claimed that a last-minute request from the Indian team management to prepare a red-soil pitch created all the problems. Now, as India gear up for the series decider, to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the team’s vice-captain spoke about this pitch fiasco. In fact, Suryakumar Yadav contradicted his captain’s statement saying the players are ready to play on any kind of surface.
"We (Hardik and I) had a chat later on, and it was like, whatever we got in future we will go with it. It's completely fine," Surya said on the eve of the series decider at Motera. "It doesn't matter what soil you play on. These are the things which aren't in your control. We did what we had in our control, we had to adapt, apply on that ground and move on with the situation. But it was an exciting game.
"Any game, ODI or T20I, low or high scoring, if there's competition in the game, wickets, I don't think, matter a lot. You go out there, have a challenge, accept it and move on," Surya added.
