AHMEDABAD: Known for his batting pyrotechnics, Suryakumar Yadav showed a straight bat when asked about the 'nature' of the pitch on offer for the second T20I against New Zealand at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. Indian captain Hardik Pandya had termed the strip in Lucknow as a "shocker of a wicket".
"I feel it doesn't matter what soil you play on. These are the things which aren't in your control. What was in our control in the last match, we did. We had to apply, adapt to whatever we got. We just have to move on," said Suryakumar Yadav at the pre-match press conference ahead of the third and final T20I here.
Pushed for a response on whether the pitch was a poor advertisement for T20Is, Yadav, who made his T20I debut in Ahmedabad against England in March 2021, said, "It was an exciting game (despite the fact that both the teams struggled to score 100 runs). Any game, whether it's T20I or 50-over, whether runs scored are more or less, if both teams are trying to have good competition, the wicket shouldn't matter a lot. We go out there, have a challenge and accept it."
Asked about the captain's comment about the pitch being a 'shocker', he says, "It is completely fine. But we had a chat later on. Whatever we get in the future, we will accept it."
Yadav, who is currently India's top scorer in the series, with 73 runs across two matches, will be looking for an encore of the innings he played against Sri Lanka in the decider in Rajkot, where he blasted a 51-ball 112.
On memories of his debut here, he said, "I like it very much. As soon as I entered the dressing room, I told the manager we've reached where it all started. I took the steps slowly. I was reminiscing about how I came here in 2021."
