'Punjab curator was out here..' - Zaheer Khan lashes out at Lucknow staff for LSG's loss against PBKS

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), mentor Zaheer Khan, claimed that his team's IPL 2025 matchup against the Punjab Kings didn't provide them much of a "home advantage."  The Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow hosted the Super Giants on Tuesday, and LSG lost badly by eight wickets.  

LSG only scored 171 runs for seven wickets after being asked to bat first.  After that, with 22 balls remaining in their innings, PBKS easily tracked down the target. The Super Giants, according to Zaheer, didn't receive the pitch they were hoping for at home.

"What was a little disappointing for me here, considering it's a home game, is that in the IPL, we've seen how teams look to take advantage of playing at home. From that point of view, it seemed like the curator wasn't considering it as a home game. It almost felt like the Punjab curator was out here. That's something we’ll have to figure out,” Zaheer Khan said in the post-match press conference.

Pitch conditions raise questions in IPL

Additionally, Zaheer supported LSG captain Rishabh Pant to do well in the competition.  With scores of 0, 15, and 2, Pant hasn't had the finest of performances thus far, scoring only 17 runs at an average of 5.66. "As we said, look, we always have to find a way, after all, he is our captain. Everyone has expectations from him, and as he has done excellent work as a captain, he will certainly contribute in the same way as a player,” Zaheer added.

With a net run rate of -0.150 following their loss against PBKS, the Super Giants dropped to sixth place in the standings. Concerns over home pitch conditions have already been voiced by Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and now LSG joins. While CSK, who have the greatest home win-loss record in IPL history, have had difficulty forecasting conditions at their pitch for the past two years, KKR previously said that they desired more spin-friendly grounds but had little influence over preparations.