Indian skipper Hardik Pandya was absolutely unhappy with the kind of pitches provided for the first two T20I matches in the series against New Zealand. Not just Hardik, his New Zealand counterpart Mitchell Santner too was left surprised by the high degree of turn the two pitches provided, with the metrics showing 3.7 and 3.8 degrees respectively. Hardik was particularly unhappy with the Lucknow pitch, where the second T20I was played, albeit India eked out a six-wicket win, as he called it "a shocker of a wicket". On Tuesday, on the eve of the series decider at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Suryakumar Yadav reacted to that statement.
Spinners bowled across 30 overs in two innings, conceding not a single six. However, Suryakumar, once again proved why he is the No.1 ranked T20I batter, as he uncharacteristically restrained 26 not out off 31 balls, which was the highest score by a batter in the match.
When asked about two pitches and all the talk around it, which even led to the curator of Lucknow's Ekana Cricket Stadium getting sacked, as per reports, Suryakumar opined that both sides should rather take it on as a challenge and go on.
“It doesn't matter what soil you play on. These are the things which aren't in you control. Whatever was in our control, we did in the last game. And we had to apply and adapt whatever we got. Also, it was an exciting game. No matter what the condition or the format is, if both teams try to have a good competition...wicket shouldn't matter a lot. You go out there, have a challenge, accept it and move on,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“It doesn't matter what soil you play on. These are the things which aren't in you control. Whatever was in our control, we did in the last game. And we had to apply and adapt whatever we got. Also, it was an exciting game. No matter what the condition or the format is, if both teams try to have a good competition...wicket shouldn't matter a lot. You go out there, have a challenge, accept it and move on,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}When further pressed about Hardik's comment on the Lucknow pitch after the 2nd T20I, Suryakumar burst into laughter, before saying, “It is completely fine. But we had a chat later on and it was like whatever we get in the future we will go on with it.”