Looks horrible but you have to give credit to curators: Warner on Chepauk pitch

Despite winning the game against Punjab Kings comfortably by nine wickets here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, SunRisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner has branded the pitch "horrible".


ANI | Chennai (Tamil Nadu) | Updated: 21-04-2021 22:50 IST | Created: 21-04-2021 22:50 IST
Looks horrible but you have to give credit to curators: Warner on Chepauk pitch
Jonny Bairstow and David Warner in the middle (Photo/ IPL Twitter) . Image Credit: ANI
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Despite winning the game against Punjab Kings comfortably by nine wickets here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, SunRisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner has branded the pitch "horrible". Warner-led side registered their first win of the 2021 IPL season in the fourth match in Chennai. The Australian criticised the surface but added that it's not the curator's fault as a lot of cricket has been played at the venue.

The ground played host to the first two Test matches in February during the England tour followed by the initial leg of the ongoing IPL. "To be honest, it's shocking. It looks horrible on TV but you have to give credit to the curators. They have had a lot of cricket here so it's very very difficult for them to get this wicket up and about. Since I've started playing in Chennai it's always been there but it's very difficult for them," Warner said in the virtual post-match press conference.

"It's not their (curators) fault that the wicket is like this. You had the Indian Test series against England and the same thing in Australia we had a lot of games on the same pitches so the curators have got a very difficult job. As players we know what we have to do, there are no excuses. It's not ideal but at the end of the day we are grateful to go out there and play on these wickets because it's very challenging for them, they don't have any rest. We have to be professionals and adapt," he added. A dominating bowling effort from Khaleel Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma had helped SRH restrict Punjab Kings to a paltry 120 in 19.4 overs. In response, SRH (121/1) chased down the target with eight balls to spare thanks to a fine batting performance by Jonny Bairstow that left Punjab Kings gasping for breath.

When asked about his run-a-ball knock of 37 runs, Warner said, "Our thinking was just to try get a right balance. We had the time to get used to this wicket. For us, it's coming out and being positive and find the right balance in our team. Today it worked, bowlers bowled fantastic and batters did the job. I have said this since the start if you have one or two batsmen at the end you should be winning most games." Warner also indicated that pacer T Natarajan could be out for a prolonged period of time. A knee injury has seen the left-armer miss SRH's last two games with Khaleel Ahmed filling in and the stringent bio-bubble rules have only made it harder for him to step out and have scans.

"He obviously has a sore knee. Given the circumstances in these bubbles, if he goes and gets a scan, he obviously has to sit out for 7 days and get back into quarantine, so we are just monitoring at the moment. The physios are doing their best to analyse but he obviously has to have a scan at some point," Warner said. SRH will next play against Delhi Capitals on Sunday. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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