Hardik Pandya Vouches For ‘Flatter Tracks’ Amid Wankhede Pitch Row

Hardik Pandya said India wanted flatter pitches after adjusting to slow surfaces in their opening T20 World Cup matches.

India allrounder Hardik Pandya has said the team would prefer flatter pitches after having to adjust to slower surfaces in their first two matches of the T20 World Cup. Despite the challenging conditions, India registered comprehensive victories, though they played at a tempo lower than their usual aggressive T20 style.

India still managed to post 209 against Namibia, which set up their biggest win in T20 World Cup history. “Two back-to-back pitches haven’t been batting-friendly,” Pandya said when receiving his Player-of-the-Match award. “Wicket was holding a bit today. You just adapt and let your skill-set work. We’d like a little more flatter wickets.”

Hardik Pandya’s comments underline the Wankhede howler, where India visibly struggled against USA in their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign opener.

Ishan Kishan Elaborates On Pitch Setting

While Ishan Kishan made batting look easy during his innings, he agreed that the surface was not ideal for stroke play. He admitted the pitch was different from what the team expected ahead of the tournament. However, he credited Namibia’s bowlers for their strong performance, especially in the death overs.

India scored 120 runs in the first 10 overs but managed only 89 in the second half of the innings. The team also suffered a late collapse of 5 for 4.

“In both the wickets, I feel it was a bit different from what we expected to happen,” Kishan said at the press conference. “And today, looking at the death overs, when we were not able to regularly hit big sixes, I think we need to also give credit to Namibia bowlers because they were bang on with their yorkers, they were bang on with their slower ones.”

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Kishan said the experience offered valuable lessons for the team moving forward. “So yeah, it was a good learning,” Kishan said. “Maybe if some other team is doing the same thing, maybe we can use the crease more or we can do something different, which can irritate the bowler. So it was a good learning in this game and especially I think it was not about our batters not being able to hit sixes, but it was more of them bowling very well in the death overs.”