Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane finally seems to be happy with the pitch that was laid out for their second home game of IPL 2025 that saw them hosting Sunrisers Hyderabad in a repeat of last year’s final. KKR won the contest after bowling out SRH for 120 while defending 200 at Eden Gardens.
KKR started their IPL campaign with a crushing defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at home and Rahane sparked a debate by expressing his desire for a pitch that would suit his spinners.
On Thursday, during the toss, Rahane was asked about the pitch by Nick Knight and the skipper reiterated team should get the desired condition when playing at home.
“(Pitch) Looks good. I’m really happy with the pitch, even we were looking to bowl first on this pitch. It will suit our spinners. When you are playing a home game, I always feel, you should get what you want. We are pretty much happy about it, but we have to assess the situation quickly with the bat,” Rahane said.
KKR started their title defense by hosting RCB last month. However, they endured a seven-wicket defeat.
“We would love to see a pitch that helps spin bowlers, but this wicket was under covers for the last one and a half days,” Rahane had said during the post-match press conference.
In reply, Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee cited BCCI guidelines on how the franchises and players have no say in preparation of the wicket.
“As per the BCCI guidelines, it is clearly mentioned that the pitch and ground preparation for all IPL regular season matches is the responsibility of the chief curator of the host association under the guidance from the BCCI-appointed venue curator, and they will be the sole decision-maker regarding the nomination of practice and match pitches, as is the case for first-class matches in India,” Sujan told RevSportz.
“It is also instructed that the franchises and players shall not have any say in the preparation of the wicket. The BCCI chief curator is available to give any advice that is required and will also be able to intervene if any issues arise,” he added.
