Lets discuss in detail Pitch report and Analysis of Bharat Ratna Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium, Lucknow.
Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, generally known as Ekana Cricket Stadium, is an international cricket stadium in Lucknow, India.
The stadium was previously named as “Ekana Cricket Stadium” carries significant meaning and symbolism “Ekana” is a Sanskrit word that translates to “one” or “unity”. And was later it was renamed by GoUP on the name of former Prime minister of India, Bharat Ratna Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
This Ekana cricket stadium is the home ground of Uttar Pradesh cricket team and also the home venue of IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants.
When Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium was built ?
The project for constructing the world class stadium in Lucknow was commissioned in 2014, and the stadium was built under public-private partnership between Ekana Sportz City and Lucknow Development Authority during the tenure of the 2012-2017 state government under the watch of then UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Ekana Sportz City is a joint venture between Nagarjuna Construction Company, GC Construction & Development Industries Pvt Ltd. As per the agreement of the partnership, the government provided Ekana Sportz City with 35 year lease of 71 acres to build the cricket stadium, with the lease running through 2052. In addition, the government also provided 66 additional acres of land for real estate projects on a 99 year lease. The cricket stadium has been built with a budget of 360 crores (3.6 billion rupees).
Capacity of Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium
Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana cricket stadium has a seating capacity of 50,000. It is the fifth largest international cricket stadium of India.
Boundary Lengths(Dimensions) of Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bhihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium
The stadium has the longest straight boundaries in comparison to all the stadiums in India. Boundary Dimensions: Ekana Stadium is one of the moderate size grounds in India. The square boundaries are around 63 – 65 meters while the straighter boundaries are 68 to 70 meters.
The square boundaries are at 61m and 68m respectively, the straight boundary is at 76m. These are the dimensions of the ground in IPL 2024 at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bhihari Vajpayee Ekna Cricket Stadium Lucknow.
Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium, Lucknow ODI records and stats
Lucknow has played host to seven ODIs so far, but India has played only one of them. It was against South Africa last year, where the Proteas defeated the Men in Blue in a nail-biting thriller. Here’s a list of some vital stats fans should know from the previous ODIs hosted by Lucknow:
Matches played: 7
Matches won by teams batting first: 3
Matches won by teams batting second: 4
Highest individual score: 109 – Quinton de Kock (SA) vs. Australia, 2023
Best bowling figures: 4/47 – Adam Zampa (AUS) vs. Sri Lanka, 2023
Highest team total: 311/7 – South Africa vs. Australia, 2023
Highest successful run-chase: 263/5 – Sri Lanka vs. Netherlands, 2023
Average first innings score: 215
Pitch Report and Analysis of Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium, Lucknow
It is very difficult to predict the nature of Lucknow’s track as it depends on what kind of pitch the match is taking place. There are two types of tracks here i.e. red soil and black soil.
In the case of a red soil pitch, the ball will come onto the bat very nicely, and the batters will be able to play their shots at merit. On the other hand, the spinners will dominate on the black soil, it will be really difficult to bat on in that scenario on a slow pitch.
The outfield is really fast here, and it will be difficult for the fielders to stop the ball once placed din the gap. With shorter boundaries, the boundaries can come easily here. Keeping the dew factor in mind, both captains would love to chase upon winning the toss in this match.
In IPL 2023, the wicket in Lucknow was challenging for batting, but the new pitch for ODI World Cup, 2023 at the venue has been a decent one for the batters. The Netherlands scored 262 runs in the previous game at this venue, while Sri Lanka managed to chase the 263-run target.
This is the Indian pitch that has something for the fast bowlers as well as the spinners if they bowl tight lines. Pitch assist for both fast bowlers and also for the spinners. Recent example is Australia and South Africa and India vs England in ODI World Cup, 2023.
Again pitch plays huge role. But there are also other factors for wining the match such as 1. Toss winning 2. Teams playing in match (their squad strength) 3. Home team India playing or not (As home team has advantage to prepare pitch according to their team plan).4. Good bowlers also play crucial role in victory even if the pitch is flat. Adam Zampa bowling against Pakistan on batting friendly pitch of Chennai is clear example that a good bowler can take wicket and turn/swing the ball in any conditions. Quality bowlers like Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Adil Rashid, Rabada, Shami, Siraj can take wickets and bowl economical spells at any ground and pitch because of their skills and execution. 5. Under lights, pitches even got better for batting. So it is easy to score freely.
Cricket is a funny game and sometimes the weaker time beat stronger teams with their skills and execution sometimes.
Quinton de Kock on Lucknow pitch after South Africa vs Australia World Cup 2023
I have played here for the Lucknow team (in the IPL), it becomes harder to bat second. The wicket does change a bit. It was sweaty and humid, the bowlers were on top of their game, no real loose balls and they picked early wickets.
Pitch Report | Matthew Hayden and Samuel Badree on Lucknow pitch against Australia vs South Africa ODI World Cup 2023
Lots of questions marks. It’s a re-laid surface. Patchy grass on the surface. The new ball will hit and kiss the surface. Red soil from Mumbai, it’s got that sort of DNA, little bit more bounce and carry with the new ball. There’s some moisture on the track as well early up. It won’t be huge-scoring. It’s going to be in favor of the bowlers. This surface is going to be a little tricky.
Pitch report and analysis for India vs England ODI World Cup 2023 Match at Lucknow
Hot weather, and a dry pitch in all probability. It is supposed to be the same one that saw Australia take on South Africa. With the soil being a mixture of black and red, there is expected to be a lot for the spinners to work with. A day ahead of the game, it witnessed plenty of work on it under the supervision of Andy Atkinson, ICC’s pitch supervisor. With some watering first followed by methodical rolling with a light roller first and then the heavy one.
Pitch Report: This does look like a Wankhede stadium track of the 80s and 90s. It’s the fourth game at this venue and we can already see some wear and tear and some dry patches, spinners will come into play. Under lights, batting will get easier. Quality spinners will come into play. I think it will spin, it is about how much and when. India are more dangerous when there’s a bit of spin. If it spins, it will bring Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali into play. If it’s a good pitch and it turns a bit, then India will be favourites. It looks like a decent pitch, reckon Ravi Shastri and Nasser Hussain.
Pitch report and Analysis of Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium Lucknow for IPL 2024
Contrary to last season when the average first innings total at the venue was just 148, the opening game this year suggests better returns for the batters.
In the 2023 season, Lucknow was the most bowling-friendly venue with an average first innings score of 148. Both pacers and spinners thrived in unison while batters generally found quickscoring to be a tough task. The surfaces were relaid recently but it is unlikely to be a free-stroking track for batters.
Marcus Stoins on Pitch of Lucknow in IPL 2024 before Match:
The wicket looks a bit different, but we’re confident of doing well. We played a couple of practice games – one on the red soil and another on the black soil, they both played slightly differently. There was a bit of nip and swing on the red soil pitch.
1st inningss score set by Lucknow Supergiants against Punjab Kings in IPL 2023 at Lucknow Stadium
199 is par with the pitch being very good for batting. LSG could have easily had 220+ though. KL and DDP threw it away at the start. QdK batted sensibly at the top but got to admire how LSG never took the foot off the pedal. Stoinis came in at No. 4 for a short intent-filled cameo and Pooran was always about intent. Took calculated risks to ensure the scoreboard was always moving. Badoni struggled and with Rabada getting Pooran with four odd overs to go it looked like PBKS could close this out very well but Krunal put on a brilliant display of finishing to give his bowlers a great chance. Curran used the cutters to great effect. Arshdeep got the key wickets of KL and QdK. Should dew not set in, LSG will really fancy their chances.
Average score at Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium Lucknow in IPL
Average score at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana stadium Lucknow is 148.
Other Factors taking into consideration
Toss too has affect on the match result. If the pitch is batting friendly. Then obviously team winning the toss love to bowl first and chase it down on a batting paradise pitch. It is easy to chase down total on a batting friendly pitch.
If the pitch is balanced one for both batters and bowlers, then toss has little impact on the match result.
If pitch has something for the bowlers. Then teams prefer to bat first put some runs on the board. Then try to restrict the chasing team with the help of pace and bounce on the pitch.
On pitches where pitches get slower with passage of time. Team want to bat first and exploit the slowness of pitch by bowling slow deliveries and by putting on spinners.
Host Team prepare Pitch on their Strength
Host team always has advantage of their home grounds. Host team prepare pitches according to their team strengths. Like India make batting flat pitches as there batting is awlays strong and powerful. Sometimes against Australia and England, they make spin friendly pitches as Spin is their main weapon against these teams. Australia make pitches with pace and bounce as fast bowing at their home grounads is their main strength. This factor is also an important factor and can impact the match result also.
Dew affect on the Match Result
Dew also has affect on the match. If there is dew factor on the ground. Team love to chase as bowl became wet. Very difficult for the team bowling 2nd to grip the ball properly.
Weather Conditions affect on the Match Result
Weather too play the role. In case of rain, team try to chase the total as they have score in mind that is to be chased down.
Factors that are Exception to Pitch conditions
Proper Discipline and Execution
Look at the matches played daily in the world. Some teams come to play on the stadium with proper planning,strategy and discipline. They excute better than the rival team. So team analysis is very important who is the captain of this team, team management and coaches, fighting instincts in the team etc.
Multans Sultans is the team which is coming with proper planning, strategy and discipline in PSL 2024. They have the best captain, best team management and they are successful by playing the best team combination. Their think tank selected the most balanced team of the PSL 9.
For example, yesterday match was played between Mumbai Indians Women and Royal Challengers Women of WPL 2024. MI Women come with proper planning,goals and strategy even Harman preet Kaur and Shabnim Ismail were injured and not playing.
MI Skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt Post Match Interview
We didn’t read the game well the other night, a complete performance from the team tonight. We know that the wicket changes under lights and we wanted to keep them under 150. We were really happy with our powerplay bowling. You don’t want to bowl too many in a row at the start or at the death as well, really lucky with the players we have in our squad. We spoke about putting a bit more pressure on the opponents in the powerplay (with the bat) and really enjoyed it from the sidelines.
MI women restrict RCB women for only 131/7 in 20 overs on a batting friendly pitch. MIW chased down the score in 15.1 overs by playing fearless cricket in the power play. That was the fighting and winning intent that give the team confidence to win the match. Their openers came with fearless intent and put 60 runs in power play from Hayley Matthews and Yastika Bhattia. Then came Nat Siver Brunt and Amelia Kerr and both played with positive intent and without taking any pressure.
Everything went Mumbai’s way tonight. Right from the toss, restricting the hosts to a below par score, and then putting up a dominating show with the bat. There were 14 boundaries in total from RCB, and Mumbai hit 22 boundaries with 7 wickets in hand, and nearly 5 overs to spare.
Sometimes one team is more disciplined and execute their skills at highest level both in batting and bowling. Sometimes it is indelbile for one team to win the match to go further in the tournament. Sometimes one team is coming from losses, so they try to come back strongly with more discipline and execution. Sometimes some team player come with X-factor and win the game single handedly for his team in batting or bowling.
Strong team vs Weak Team
Like Multans Sultans is appearing to be the most balanced team in PSL 2024. They have good batters and very strong squad in bowlinng too. Hence they are at the top in the points table. On the other hand Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings are weak in this PSL and they are at the bottom. Lahore Qalandars unable to find right combinnation without Rashid Khan, Tim David and some other overseas players absence.
Very important factor in winning the match is team analysis of two teams.Pitch conditions are exception if the match is b/w a strong team and a weak team. Strong team is always favorite to win a cricket match. In current era, India and Australia are strong teams. Both teams have quality batters and bowlers. They are always favorite whatever the pitch condition is. Same applies to T20 leagues teams in IPL, BBL, PSL etc. Strong teams batters and bowlers have the requisite skills to win the match in their team favor. So team analysis is very important to assess before the match to preditct which team can win the match. For my point of view, team analysis is more important than pitch conditions. In BBL matches also strong and favorite teams have upper hand in the match.
Presence of X Factor Players in the Team
If one team has more X factor players then that team has more chance of winning the match. X factor players are those players who can win the match for his team single handedly. Like in first match of KKR in IPL 204, Andress Russell won match for KKR when they were in worse condition top batters were out. It seems that on batting friendly Eden Gardens Kolkata team was going to score only 140-150 but Andree Russel innings of 64 in just 25 balls with a strike rate of 256 with with seven 6s and three 4s.That was unbeliveable batting. Andree Russel also took 2 wickets as he is an all rounder.
Travis Head, Pat Cummins, David Warner, Buttler,Pant, Chahal, Ashwin, Bumrach, Hardik Pandya,Rohit Sharma,Kohli, Siraj, Surayakumar Yadav,Pooran, Hasaranga,Parag,Abhishek Sharma,Jaiswal and many more are some of the examples of X factor players. If team has more X factors players like RR and SRH in IPL 204. These team have ofcourse more chance of winning the match and we are also seeing on ongoing IPL 2024. Both RR and SRH are winning.
X factor players are also called match winner players and they are purchased at a very high price and some clicket while the tournament goes on. Like Parag, Abhishek Sharma developed as match winners in IPL 2024.
Poor Team Selection/ Cominbation and Team Conflict
This is the responsiblity of the captain, team owners and team management to select the best strong and balanced team from auction and trade window. Otherswise team can suffer hugely. If playing XI is balanced with good team combination ofcourse the winning team is predictable almost 70%. Sometimes something is not in your hand like if the pitch is very batting friendly. Team chasing has 70% chance of winning.
That too is a big factor. Like in IPL 2024, Rajhastan Royals and SRH selcted the best team. Their think tank were wise and sharp. That is why they are enable to find the right combination and a perfect team. They have good analysis of players. They have more X factor players like Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Klassen, Buneshver kumar. Abhishek Sharma also clicked with a big impact. Same is the case of RR. They are now rebuild a strong balanced team. Team has many X factor players like Butler, Samson, Parag, Boult, Burger,Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Ashwin. So both teams are winning even on batting friendly pitches of India.
Mumbai Indians this IPL 2024 is suffering at initial stage. Mumbai Indians replaced Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya as captain. MI unable to fight a very balanced and strong team for IPL 2024. The team is exposed. Also SRK Yadav is injured and Kishan is out of form. Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma are their X facctor players. But not all XI are plyaing their part. Their overseas selection is not performing at excellent level. Team combination is also suffering. Two big legends are in the team one joined the team sa captain and the other one is left by team managemnt. It also contributed negatively on the Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024.
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