Lucknow: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Zaheer Khan has expressed disappointment over the pitch conditions at Ekana Cricket Stadium, suggesting that the home team did not benefit from the expected home advantage in their IPL clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS).
LSG suffered a heavy defeat on Tuesday night, losing three wickets in the Powerplay before posting 171 runs, only for PBKS to chase the target in just 16.2 overs.
Following the match, Zaheer Khan took a dig at the pitch curator, stating that the surface was more suited to the visitors rather than the home team.
“What was a little disappointing for me here, considering it’s a home game, is that in the IPL, teams usually benefit from home conditions,” Zaheer said in a post-match media interaction.
“However, that wasn’t the case for LSG. The curator did not seem to be preparing a pitch with home advantage in mind. It felt like a Punjab curator was in charge here.”
LSG skipper Rishabh Pant also admitted that the team is still trying to assess the home pitch and adjust to the conditions.
“It’s a new setup for me as well, and we are still figuring things out. I hope this is the first and last game where such conditions work against us because it’s disappointing for our fans,” Pant stated.
With this defeat, LSG has now lost two out of their first three matches and slipped to sixth place on the points table. However, Zaheer Khan remains optimistic about the team’s chances.
“We still have six more home games to go. We accept the loss and are determined to make an impact in the upcoming matches,” he added.
