Barely its been a week in the ongoing 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and there is already a new controversy that has erupted after Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane's request to tweak the Eden Gardens surface was rejected. The KKR team is apparently miffed with the surface that was dished out in their first game against RCB in the IPL season opener. Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee made it pretty clear that there wont be any changes in the Eden Gardens surface.
Cricketer-turned-expert Simon Doull was unimpressed by the Eden Gardens pitch curator's answer, and said KKR to move out of Kolkata to a new place where they would at least get a 'home advantage.' After KKR bounced back from a crushing loss to RCB at home to beat RR in their away game, Doull along with Harsha Bhogle came hard at Mukherjee for not paying heed to Rahane's request to alter Eden Gardens Pitch.
Bhogle stated that all the KKR skipper wanted was a pitch that provides some assistance to spinners, and not a rank-turner. Historically, KKR have always boasted of quality spinners in theier various IPL teams over the years. They also went on to win two titles in 2012 and 2014 under Gautam Gambhir's leadership by using spinners at the Eden Gardens surface.
"RR, if they are playing at home, should get the tracks that they think are suited for their bowlers. So too with KKR. I saw something what the KKR curator has said. If I'm in the KKR camp, I'm extremely unhappy of what he said because I'm not asking for a 120 surface. I'm just saying, give me a surface where my bowlers can win matches. To say, 'sorry, we don't prepare pitches like that...' No. We are not asking you to make a 120 pitch, we are not asking you to make a 240 pitch. But I think home advantage in a tournament like IPL is absolutely legitimate. That will enhance the tournament because winning away becomes crucial then," Bhogle said in a Cricbuzz show.
What did Ajinkya Rahane said to Eden Gardens pitch curator
For the unversed, Rahane requested to Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee to provide pitches that assist spinners after KKR were badly outplayed by RCB by seven wickets on a placid Eden Gardens surface.
“We would love to see the pitch helping the spin bowlers but again, this wicket was under covers for the last one-and-a-half days,” he said at the post-match press conference, adding: “Both the spinners we have, the quality they have, they can bowl in any kind of wicket and I am sure they are confident as well.”
However Mukherjee rejected Rahane's request by stating IPL rules and regulations does not allow a pitch to be changed by a franchises request.
“As per the IPL rules and regulations, franchises have no say over the pitch,” he told RevSportz. “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.”
