India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel has thrown his weight behind curators at the Wankhede Stadium and the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera after slightly tacky surfaces at both venues sparked debate during the T20 World Cup.
The pitches in Mumbai and Ahmedabad are not the typical players that many expected. The Wankhede Stadium was sub-humid while the Narendra Modi Stadium in MoteraThe ball tended to pinch, so the stroke play was not as straightforward.
For most of the Indian batsmen, it was difficult to force the pace under such conditions. Even free-flowing batsmen like Tilak Varma struggled in the earlier games and Suryakumar Yadav had to spend time adjusting before he got up to speed.
However, Morkel was forthcoming with the ground staff, acknowledging the challenge of preparing high-scoring surfaces so late in the season.
“You know, credit to the curators for saying that we’re still producing wickets with 200-plus surfaces so late in the season. It’s a nightmare,” Morkel told reporters.
The former South African pacer pointed out that curators are often caught between fan expectations and the practical realities of pitch preparation.
“I can think it’s everybody’s job to want certain expectations from the fans, high-scoring matches. There’s a lot of pressure on those guys. They’ve put in a lot of hard work to give us the best surface they can prepare,” he said ahead of India’s Super Eight match against South Africa on Sunday.
For Morkel, predicting how the surface will behave remains one of the most difficult aspects of the game.
“I still think to this day it’s very hard to say the goal is going to play that way. I think we’re all always standing. We have some ideas. There’s moisture. It looks a little dry. It’s going to hold or it’s going to slide.”
“But in terms of controlling the goal and saying it’s going to play like that, it’s very hard to call it.
“So that’s why it’s so important to me that you have people who can summarize the conditions quite well.
Morkel did not directly address whether the pitches were tiring due to overuse during the domestic season and increasingly difficult for batting. Instead, he emphasized the importance of adaptability and learning during the tournament.
“And I think we’ve done really well in this tournament so far with batting and bowling. Apart from one game, the first game, I don’t think it was a 200-plus surface. It was maybe a 170 surface and we were a little bit too tough early on.”
“But then again, it’s been learning. So every game there’s been learning so far, and I think that’s the beauty of this game, they’re going to learn from the surface every time,” Morkel said.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
February 20, 2026