Ajinkya Rahane is in the news strangely for off-field reasons rather than on-field ones. Known for not to mince words, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper wanted more spin-friendly pitches at their home venue Eden Gardens. Rahane's suggestion came after the side were handed a massive seven-wicket defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season opener. The pitch did not massively spin, as the RCB batters did not face any difficulty in facing KKR's spin twins Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine.
However, Rahane's suggestion of tweaking the pitches for the rest of the six games at Eden Gardens was rejected by the pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee.
“We would love to see the pitch helping the spin bowlers, but again, this wicket was undercover for the last one-and-a-half days. Both the spinners we have, the quality they have, they can bowl in any wicket, and I am sure they are confident as well,” Rahane said at the press conference after the KKR versus RCB clash.
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However, the Eden Gardens pitch curator was steadfast in not making changes as he said as per IPL rules and regulations the franchises don't have any say in the pitch.
“As long as I’m here, Eden Gardens pitch will not change,” Mukherjee said in his latest interview with Revsportz. “As per the IPL rules and regulations, franchises have no say over the pitch. Ever since I have taken charge (as Eden curator), the pitches here have been like this. It was like this in the past. Things haven’t changed now, and it will not be altered in the future,” he continued.
Also Read: RR vs KKR Pitch Report & Weather Updates at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati: IPL 2025 Match 6
Eden Gardens pitch curator hits back at Ajinkya Rahane, says RCB spinners took four wickets
Like CSK, KKR are also good at maximizing the home advantage over the previous seasons of IPL. This time also they wanted to make full use of the home advantage by making Eden Gardens a spin fortress. While RCB spinners took four wickets, KKR spinners only picked two wickets. The Eden Gardens pitch curator pointed out this fact and said KKR spinners did not use the conditions well.
“Their (RCB) spinners took four wickets between them,” he said. “What did the KKR spinners do? Krunal Pandya got three wickets. Suyash Sharma turned the ball to castle Andre Russell,” Sujan Mukherjee said.
