‘It felt like ‘Punjab curator’ made the Lucknow pitch’ – Zaheer Khan criticises pitch curator after Punjab win

In Tuesday’s IPL 2025 match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) lost to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by a heartbreaking eight wickets. Zaheer Khan, the coach of LSG, blasted the pitch conditions after the defeat, saying that they seemed to have been created by a Punjab curator.

Several IPL teams this season, such as the Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, have voiced reservations about their home fields. Following their home loss against PBKS, LSG became the most recent team to bring attention to this problem.

The former Indian bowler questioned the choices made by the pitch curator, stating that home teams need to have a slight edge in IPL games. In his critique, he noted that it appeared to benefit the away team rather than the home club.

“I’m disappointed since I didn’t realise it was a home game. I found this to be a little disappointing, especially since it’s a home game. From that perspective, you can see that the curator is not really considering it to be a home game, as you have saw in the IPL when teams have considered taking a small amount of home advantage. At the news conference following the game, he stated, “I believe it might have appeared that the Punjab curator was present.”

There are still six games left to play here: Zaheer Khan

LSG was put to bat on a red-soil pitch and battled from the beginning. During the powerplay, the side lost three early wickets. Despite efforts by Nicholas Pooran (44 off 30) to steady the innings, the team was only able to muster 171/7 in their 20 overs. With three wickets, including the removal of Ayush Badoni and Abdul Samad in the last over of the first innings, Arshdeep Singh was Punjab’s best bowler.

But in response, captain Shreyas Iyer’s undefeated 52 off 30 balls and Prabhsimran Singh’s 69 off 34 balls were crucial to the chase. Punjab controlled both powerplays, initially containing the team captained by Rishabh Pant and then advancing quickly in the pursuit. With 22 balls remaining, they eventually easily chased down the target. Zaheer emphasised how crucial home advantage is and how LSG was not at all helped by the pitch conditions.

“That is something we will resolve. This is also a new configuration for me. However, you are also disappointing the Lucknow fans, therefore I hope that this is the first and last game in that regard. There are a lot of anticipation that they will win this first home game. As a squad, we know we’ve lost the game, but we’re confident and will do everything in our power to make an impact in the home leg. We have six more games left here,” he continued.