'Have you ever had plate of pakodas': Sunil Gavaskar's brutal assessment of Riyan Parag's bowling vs KKR

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar had a brutal assessment of Riyan Parag's bowling after the Rajasthan Royals stand-in captain dismissed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane in an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. Gavaskar likened Riyan Parag's bowling to a “plate of pakodas”, leaving fellow commentators Alan Wilkins and Eoin Morgan in splits.

The incident happened after the fourth delivery of the 13th over where Parag dismissed Rahane for 30 runs. A round-arm release resulted in Parag undercutting the off-break. The ball did not bounce much, and Rahane just managed to get a thin top edge, handing a simple catch to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel.

After Rahane got dismissed, Sunil Gavaskar on air said, “Have you ever had a plate of pakodas, mixed pakodas?”

To this, Alan Wilkins replied, “Well, go on, yes I have.”

The former India captain did not stop there as he said, “So it's a bit like the mixed pakodas, potato pakoda, then capsicum pakoda, onion pakoda, bit of everything, mixed pakoda, that's the kind of bowling that he has.”

As soon as Gavaskar made this comment, the cameras panned to the commentary box, where Eoin Morgan and Alan Wilkins were seen laughing out loud.

“Oh gosh, I've heard some descriptions of a bowler, what do you call it? Love it, Sunny. Beautiful,” said Wilkins.

Kolkata Knight Riders opt to bat vs Rajasthan Royals

In a must-win match for KKR, the defending champions won the toss and opted to bat first against Rajasthan Royals at the Eden Gardens. KKR made two changes to their playing XI as they brought in Moeen Ali and Ramandeep Singh into the lineup.

KKR posted 206/4 in the allotted twenty overs, owing to a whirlwind unbeaten 57-run knock by Andre Russell off just 25 balls with the help of 4 fours and 6 sixes.

On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals made three changes to their lineup.

At the toss, Rahane said, “We are going to bat first, looks a little dry. Not sure if it slows down in the second innings. We want to put a total on the board and defend it. Need to keep it simple.”

“It's all about taking one game at a time. Everyone's contribution was good in the last game. We need to assess the conditions and adapt to them quickly. I am working really hard on my game, playing domestic cricket has helped me a lot. Trying to enjoy my game,” he added.