UPCA to Take Special Care of IPL Pitches, Announces to Hire Specialist

In the recent games between India and New Zealand, the stadium pitches have become the centre of controversy. To take the matter seriously, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) has announced that they will be appointing two experts to prevent the repetition of recent disasters in Lucknow's Ekana Stadium.

CEO of UPCA, Ankit Chatterjee, said in a statement, "We are going to appoint two specialists who will take care of the stadium. One will be an expert on the pitch, and another will be a professional on the outfield. We are taking required permissions from other state associations to hire their services.

He confirmed that the organization will no longer be under contract with the current curator.

Hardik Pandya expressing shock on pitch

During the second T20I between India and New Zealand, the visitors made 99 runs. The hosts won the game, but captain Pandya expressed his feeling about the pitch. In the post-match conference, he said, "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."

Adding to this, he said, "Other than that, happy. Even 120 would have been a winning total. Bowlers - they stuck to their plans and ensured they did not rotate the strike. We kept rotating the spinners. Dew didn't play much part in this. They were able to spin the ball more than us. It was carrying through well. It was a shocker of a wicket."