India vs West Indies: Lucknow’s Ekana stadium to welcome international cricket with full house

India vs West Indies 2nd T20 International: Local officials were in two minds whether to offer a batsmen-friendly pitch but finally everyone agreed on the sixth strip that promises equal opportunities to both sides.

After much deliberation by the authorities, including BCCI chief curator Daljit Singh, pitch No 6 of the Ekana International Cricket Stadium has been chosen to host the first international match here when Rohit Sharma’s boys take on West Indies in the second T20I on Tuesday.

Cricket fans queue up to buy tickets for the forthcoming T20I match between India and West Indies at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. (PTI)

Local officials were in two minds whether to offer a batsmen-friendly pitch but finally everyone agreed on the sixth strip that promises equal opportunities to both sides. The game is expected to be a competitive one as the black soil, composed of Odisha’s Bolangir soil, should produce good bounce.

With a steep fall in the day temperature for the last two days, smog as well as fog hangs low on the stadium. So dew factor under lights is likely to make a big difference for the team fielding second as the ball would be skidding on the surface and bowlers will find it hard to grip it.

The 75-yard boundary would be the other worry for the two sides as batsmen will have to work hard accumulating runs. “It’s a balanced pitch for both teams. One has to work hard for runs as clearing boundary with lofty shots won’t be easy on a surface like this,” said one of the local curators.

Besides Daljit Singh, Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) curators like Ravindra Chauhan, Shiv Kumar and Surendra have been taking care of the pitch and are hopeful of a good match.

“The outfield is perfect and fast, but dew won’t allow the ball to race towards boundary quickly. Nowadays, the dew is coming at 5.30 in the evening and match starts here at 7 pm. You can’t ignore these factors,” said one of the curators.

However, it is for sure that around 50,000 people will make it a full-house, regardless of the nature of the match. “All the tickets are sold out and we are expecting a full-house,” director of Ekana Sports City Udai Sinha said on Sunday.