As India and New Zealand prepare to square off in the series decider of the T20I series at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Indian vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav addressed the media in a pre-match press conference. Unsurprisingly, the Lucknow pitch was the biggest talking point after a rather strange game on Sunday at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Suryakumar did not appear to be too concerned with the pitch and stated that it is up to the team to accept the challenge and move on. He also praised them for doing what was within their control.
“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,” Suryakumar said.
The world no. 1 T20I batter was also asked about Hardik Pandya’s brutal ‘the pitch was a shocker’ comment, which he appeared to play down by laughing it off before revealing that the team did have a chat about it. “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,” he added.
Hardik did not mince words on the surface and claimed that while he does not mind challenging surfaces, this track was a ‘shocker.’ The Lucknow match saw India struggle to chase down a paltry total of 100 runs as they won the game with just one ball to spare. Suryakumar was the Player of the Match (POTM), but he looked far from his free-flowing best as he made just 26 runs in 30 balls and scored just one boundary in the innings.
