Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane went on the offensive against Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee, saying that he must be enjoying the ‘lot of publicity’ he has got on the subject of the franchise’s ‘home advantage’. Rahane said he didn’t want to comment further on the issue, adding that if he were to say more to the media there would be a huge ‘bawal’ or controversy.
He was speaking after KKR lost to Lucknow Super Giants by four runs at the Eden Gardens, their second defeat at home this season. The pitch was one of the flattest the ground has seen in years as LSG put up 238/3 in 20 overs, to which KKR came close at 234/7. Rahane, who has been critical of the lack of help for spinners — the team’s strength — from the home pitch — had the same complain but didn’t go into details.
“Firstly, there was no help for the spinners, let me clear that,” Rahane said after the game, as quoted by PTI.
“See, there’s been enough talk about the wicket. Aap logon ne bahut usko yeh kar diya hai. Toh agar main abhi kuch bolunga na, toh bawaal ho jayega. (You people have already hyped it up a lot. So if I say anything now, it will create a big controversy),” Rahane added.
“Jo hamare curator hai, unko bahut publicity mila. I think he’s happy with that publicity. Home advantage ke baare mein aapko jo likhna hai, aap likh sakto, jo laga. (Our curator has got a lot of publicity. I think he’s happy with that publicity. You can write whatever you feel like about the home advantage).”
“If I have any concern, I would probably convey it to the IPL rather than speaking about it here,” he said.
When Rahane first gave his comments, Mukherjee strongly announced that as long as he was the curator, Eden Gardens’ pitch wouldn’t change, while slamming KKR’s spinners for not matching their opponents. He has spoken to the media multiple times since then, each time with cruder words for the skipper.
