WATCH: Zaheer Khan unhappy with LSG’s home pitch after crushing loss to PBKS

WATCH: Zaheer Khan unhappy with LSG’s home pitch after crushing loss to PBKS

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) endured a disappointing start to its home campaign in IPL 2025, suffering an eight-wicket defeat against Punjab Kings at the Ekana Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. However, beyond the loss, LSG mentor Zaheer Khan was left frustrated with the nature of the pitch, questioning whether it truly provided a home advantage.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Zaheer did not hold back his disappointment with the conditions. “What was a little disappointing for me here was it’s a home game, and in IPL you’ve seen how teams have looked at taking a little bit of home advantage. So from that point of view, you’ve seen the curator is not really thinking that it’s a home game. I think maybe it looked like it was Punjab’s curator out here (laughs). So that’s something which we’ll figure out,” he said.

Red soil pitches offer more bounce and carry, aiding seamers, while black soil pitches stay low and slow, favouring spinners over time. LSG struggled from the outset on a red-soil surface that seemed to favour the visitor more than the host, which had three frontline spinners in its fold. Asked to bat first, the home side lost three wickets in the PowerPlay and never recovered. Despite a brief resistance from its middle order, it was restricted to a below-par total, with Punjab’s bowlers dictating terms.

Punjab Kings made light work of the chase, with Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer scoring composed half-centuries to steer their team to victory. LSG’s bowlers failed to find breakthroughs at crucial junctures, allowing Punjab to dominate proceedings from start to finish.

Zaheer expressed hope that such pitch conditions would not be repeated, especially given the expectations of Lucknow’s home fans. “It’s a new setup for me. But I hope that this is the first and the last game when it comes to that because you are disappointing the Lucknow fans as well. They’ve come up with so many expectations of winning the first home game here.”

Despite the setback, Zaheer maintained that the team remained optimistic about bouncing back in the remainder of the home leg. “As a team, we are confident. We accept that we’ve lost the game, and we will do whatever it takes to make that impact in the home leg. We still have six more games to go here, and this team has shown so far that we have the right outlook and mindset for the IPL,” he added.

LSG will look to regroup quickly as it prepares for its next home fixture, hoping to turn around its fortunes and capitalise on what should be a genuine home advantage.