Lucknow Tremendous Giants head coach Justin Langer in contrast the Ekana pitch to the famed Perth observe of yesteryears, admitting that the house staff has been unable to adapt to the tempo and bounce on provide on it.
The LSG has struggled on its residence floor, dropping all three matches right here. It has gone down by six and 7 wickets to Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans respectively, earlier than struggling a 40-run defeat to Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday.
The LSG misplaced six of its eight matches right here final season, together with 5 in a row. General, it has managed simply 9 wins from 25 video games on the venue.
“The pitch right here may be very completely different than in most of India. It’s a superb cricket pitch. You see tempo and bounce, and we simply haven’t fairly adjusted to it,” Langer mentioned on the post-match press convention.
“I believed we’d began off, we’d been bowling fairly effectively in it. We bowled effectively within the first sport, however we’re simply not adjusting to the additional tempo and bounce. We noticed that we’ve been out to the quick ball plenty of instances, our batters.
“We see a variety of the wickets in India the place the ball doesn’t bounce very excessive. That is like enjoying on the WACA. There’s actual tempo and bounce.You’re seeing some actually fascinating cricket being performed right here,” he added.
Regardless of boasting a formidable batting line-up that includes skipper Rishabh Pant, Australia’s Mitchell Marsh, South Africa T20 captain Aiden Markram and the flamboyant Nicholas Pooran, LSG has struggled to place up aggressive totals at residence, managing 141, 164 for 8 and 119 in three video games.
“Our batting’s simply not fairly clicking, and who would have thought at the beginning of the season our batting wouldn’t click on with the calibre of gamers we’ve received? We might by no means have learn that, so we’re working laborious on it.” The previous Australia coach, nevertheless, had phrases of reward for the bowling unit, predicting a vibrant future for younger pacers Prince Yadav and Mohsin Khan.
“Final 12 months our numbers had been unbelievable and we had been ruing the truth that a variety of our bowlers had been injured or getting back from damage or not fairly match.
“This 12 months our bowlers have been an actual credit score. I believe Mohsin Khan, once more excellent. Prince Yadav, I believe they’re each two gamers who will play for India. No query in my thoughts they’ll each play for India.” On whether or not the franchise had any say in pitch preparation, Langer dismissed the notion.
“No, no, no. Their groundsmen right here: I’ve mentioned for the final couple of years this is among the finest pitches in India.” “It’s a giant floor. It’s a superb bat… it’s an amazing cricket wicket really and we simply have to adapt to it higher.” In the meantime, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who struck an unbeaten 43 and picked up a wicket to information Rajasthan to victory, mentioned the floor was removed from a really perfect T20 wicket.
“The wicket wasn’t very simple.There was grass, it was a red-soil wicket, so there was bounce as effectively. Their 4 quick bowlers had been making it swing and seam alongside good tempo.
“I wouldn’t say it was ideally a T20 wicket, you couldn’t simply go and swing at it and get runs. Quick bowlers from each groups would have loved that they might bounce and seam it,” Jadeja mentioned.
Nevertheless, the seasoned all-rounder appreciated the consistency of the pitch throughout each the innings.
“What I appreciated was that the wicket was equal for each. It’s not like how it’s generally, when batters first get a gradual, seaming wicket after which nothing occurs within the second innings. Each groups misplaced two-three wickets within the Powerplay itself.
“It was a difficult T20 match, not the everyday one with fireworks from either side. It challenges you mentally, and skill-wise you need to be sharp,” he mentioned.
Printed on Apr 23, 2026