The head coach of the Lucknow Super Giants, Justin Langer, acknowledged that the home team has not been able to adjust to the pace and bounce on offer on the Ekana surface, comparing it to the renowned Perth track of the past.
All three of the LSG’s home games have been losses in Lucknow. Before losing to Rajasthan Royals by 40 runs on Wednesday, they were defeated by Delhi Capitals by six wickets and Gujarat Titans by seven.
Last season, the LSG lost six of their eight games in Lucknow, including five straight. They have only won nine of their 25 games at the venue overall.
“The pitch here is very different than in most of India. It’s a brilliant cricket pitch. You see pace and bounce, and we just haven’t quite adjusted to it,” PTI quoted Langer as saying at the post-match press conference.
“I thought we’d started off, we’d been bowling quite well in it. We bowled well in the first game, but we’re just not adjusting to the extra pace and bounce. We saw that we’ve been out to the short ball a number of times, our batters.
“We see a lot of the wickets in India where the ball doesn’t bounce very high. This is like playing at the WACA. There’s real pace and bounce. You’re seeing some really interesting cricket being played here,” he added.
LSG have struggled to produce competitive totals at home, reaching 141, 164 for 8, and 119 in three games despite having a formidable batting lineup that includes captain Rishabh Pant, Australia’s Mitchell Marsh, South Africa T20 captain Aiden Markram, and the flamboyant Nicholas Pooran.
“Our batting’s just not quite clicking, and who would have thought at the start of the season our batting wouldn’t click with the calibre of players we’ve got? We could never have read that, so we’re working hard on it.”
However, the former Australian coach praised the bowling unit and said that young pacers Prince Yadav and Mohsin Khan would have a bright future.
“Last year our numbers were incredible and we were ruing the fact that a lot of our bowlers were injured or coming back from injury or not quite fit. This year our bowlers have been a real credit. I think Mohsin Khan, again outstanding. Prince Yadav, I think they’re both two players who will play for India. No question in my mind they’ll both play for India.”
Langer rejected the idea that the team had any influence over pitch preparation.
“No, no, no. Their groundsmen here: I’ve said for the last couple of years this is one of the best pitches in India. It’s a big ground. It’s a brilliant bat… it’s a great cricket wicket actually and we just need to adapt to it better.”
The surface was far from an ideal T20 track, according to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who led Rajasthan to victory with an unbeaten 43 and a wicket.
“The wicket wasn’t very easy. There was grass, it was a red-soil wicket, so there was bounce as well. Their four fast bowlers were making it swing and seam alongside good pace. I wouldn’t say it was ideally a T20 wicket, you couldn’t just go and swing at it and get runs. Fast bowlers from both teams would have enjoyed that they could bounce and seam it,” Jadeja said.
But the seasoned all-rounder valued the pitch’s steadiness across both innings.
“What I liked was that the wicket was equal for both. It’s not like how it is sometimes, when batters first get a slow, seaming wicket and then nothing happens in the second innings. Both teams lost two-three wickets in the Powerplay itself.
“It was a challenging T20 match, not the typical one with fireworks from both sides. It challenges you mentally, and skill-wise you have to be sharp,” he said.
