Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Zaheer Khan didn’t hold back after his team’s eight-wicket loss to Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium. He criticized the pitch conditions stating that LSG was deprived of the home advantage expected in the IPL.

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Zaheer Unhappy with Ekana Curator

Speaking at the post-match press conference Zaheer expressed frustration over the surface prepared for the game. As per ESPNcricinfo he even joked that it felt like Punjab had brought their own curator.

"What was a little disappointing for me here, considering it's a home game. In IPL, you've seen how teams have looked at taking a little bit of home advantage, you know, so yeah, from that point of view, you've seen the curator is not really thinking that it's a home game, you know. I think maybe it looked like, you know, it was Punjab curator out here," he added.

LSG’s Struggles and PBKS’ Easy Chase

LSG put up 171 runs on the board but PBKS chased it down with ease thanks to Prabhsimran Singh’s explosive 69 off 34 balls. The visitors reached the target in just 16.2 overs leaving LSG searching for answers.

Zaheer stressed that the match should serve as a learning experience for his team. He hopes that future home games will have conditions better suited to LSG’s strengths.

"What was a little disappointing for me here, considering it's a home game. In IPL, you've seen how teams have looked at taking a little bit of home advantage, you know, so yeah, from that point of view, you've seen the curator is not really thinking that it's a home game, you know. I think maybe it looked like, you know, it was Punjab curator out here," remarked Zaheer.