Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner described the Chepauk pitch as “shocking” on Wednesday after his team won their first IPL match after completing a fruitful run chase in four matches. The Sunrisers have lost three consecutive matches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium track, which is known for helping spinners. This season, the venue has seen a lot of batting collapses. SRH, on the other hand, had the last laugh on Wednesday, chasing down a modest target of 120 set by Punjab Kings in 18.4 overs to end a three-match losing streak. Warner slammed the wicket, but avoided accusing the curators.
“To be honest, it’s surprising,” Warner said after his team cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Punjab in a virtual press conference.
“On TV, it seems to be a disaster, but you have to give respect to the curators. They’ve played a lot of cricket here, so getting this wicket up and running would be tough. It’s always been there since I started playing in Chennai, but it’s really difficult for them.”
The Chepauk track has seen a lot of cricket in recent months, with India playing England in two Test matches in February and the first leg of the ongoing IPL in March.
“To be honest, it’s surprising,” Warner said after his team cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Punjab in a virtual press conference.
“On TV, it seems to be a disaster, but you have to give respect to the curators. They’ve played a lot of cricket here, so getting this wicket up and running would be tough. It’s always been there since I started playing in Chennai, but it’s really difficult for them.”
The Chepauk track has seen a lot of cricket in recent months, with India playing England in two Test matches in February and the first leg of the ongoing IPL in March.
“It is not their (curators’) fault that the wicket is in a poor condition. You had the Indian Test series against England, and we had a lot of games on the same pitches in Australia, so the curators have a tough job on their hands “Warner remarked.
“There are no excuses for us as players; we know what we have to do. It’s not perfect, but at the end of the day, we’re fortunate to be able to go out there and play on these wickets because they’re very difficult for them to bat on and they don’t get any rest. We must adapt and be experts.”
T Natarajan, the SRH seamer, has missed the last two games due to a knee injury, according to the Australian.
“He clearly has a swollen knee. Given the conditions of these bubbles, once he has a screening, he’ll have to wait out for seven days and return to isolation, so we’re just keeping an eye on him right now “Warner remarked.
“The physiotherapists are trying their best to analyse, but he will need a scan at some point.”
After SRH gave him the first over of the innings, left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma impressed with two wickets.
“There wasn’t much thought put into it. We were standing in the circle when I told Abhishek, “You got the first over.” “Warner remarked.
If Rashid Khan hadn’t dropped opener Mayank Agarwal at deep midwicket, Sharma would have had a wicket.
“I just had a gut feeling (because) they’d just come from Wankhede, and it was a good wicket there.” ‘You know what, I’ll just toss him the ball and see how he does,’ I reasoned.
“Those two guys like pace on the new ball, so I just brought on Abhishek and we almost had a wicket in the first over,” Warner said.