During the IPL 2023 match between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on May 5, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya took a light-hearted dig at Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson and the pitch. Samson won the toss and chose to bat first, in what was a repeat of the IPL 2022 final.
Pandya-Samson banter on pitch nature
However, Samson conceded that he was having difficulty reading the pitch at the stadium. When presenter Nick Knight asked Pandya if he would have chosen to bat first, the Gujarat Titans captain made a joke and said he would rather wait and see what Rajasthan does with the bat. Pandya also pointed out that the home captain was unable to identify the nature of the pitch.
"We would like to bat first. It's a bit hard to read this pitch. Let's bat a few overs and figure out later," Samson said with a smile on his face.
"We were going to bat first as well. If the home captain does not know to what to choose, I thought might as well bowl and see what happens," Hardik responded.
Challenging pitch to read
Before the Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans match on Friday, only two games had been played on the pitch in Jaipur. In the first game, Lucknow Super Giants managed to defend their total of 154 runs and secured a 10-run victory over Rajasthan Royals. In the second game, Rajasthan Royals successfully defended their total of 202 runs against Chennai Super Kings, who struggled to chase on a pitch that became slower in the second innings.
Interestingly, Nick Knight and Deep Dasgupta, who provided the pitch report on Friday, admitted that the pitch was challenging to read. They noted that the 22 yards had both dry patches and grass-covered areas, making it difficult to predict how the pitch would behave during the match.
"I don't think this is the easiest pitch to sum up. There are some bare patches, but there are spots where there is a good covering of grass too. May not be two-paced, but could play low generally. A decent pitch, 170-180 kind I would say," the two cricketers said at the pitch report.
