India vs New Zealand: Lucknow pitch curator sacked after preparing 'shocker wicket'

Lucknow, Jan 31: The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) on Tuesday sacked the curator of the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow after the ground's pitch, used in the India vs New Zealand 2nd T20I, faced criticism from several quarters, including T20 captain Hardik Pandya.

With barely 200 runs scored in 40 overs on a surface that provided excessive spin, Pandya called it a "shocker of a pitch" and unworthy of a T20 move.

Sanjeev Kumar Agarwal named new curator of Ekanka Cricket stadium

"The curator has been removed and replaced by Sanjeev Kumar Agarwal who is a very experienced curator. We will turn things around in a month," a UPCA source told PTI.

"A lot of domestic cricket was already played on all the centre wickets ahead of the T20I and the curator should have left one or two strips for an international game. The surface was overused and due to the bad weather, there was not enough (time) to prepare a fresh wicket."

Hardik has not been happy with the surfaces on offer so far in the series.

"To be honest, it was a shocker of a wicket. Both the games we have played on so far. I don't mind difficult wickets. I am all up for that, but these two wickets are not made for T20. Somewhere down the line, the curators or the grounds that we are going to play in should make sure they prepare the pitches earlier," Hardik had said after the six-wicket win in Lucknow.

Agarwal, who has prepared pitches in Bangladesh in the past before being removed in October last year, has been tasked to set things right as far as pitch-making is concerned. He will work closely with veteran BCCI curator Taposh Chatterjee, said the source.

The T20I series decider will be played in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

(With inputs from PTI)