KKR throw the ball in Eden Gardens curator's court amid ongoing pitch controversy: 'Expect something to be...'
Amid the ongoing pitch row at the Eden Gardens, KKR's head coach, Chandrakant Pandit, batted for having favourable home conditions in the IPL.
Ajinkya Rahane-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are all set to play their third game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 edition. The defending champions will face Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday. Ahead of the fixture against the five-time champions, KKR's head coach Chandrakant Pandit batted for having favourable home conditions in the cash-rich league.
His comment comes amid the ongoing pitch controversy at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. It all started with Ajinkya Rahane expressing his desire to have spin-friendly tracks in Kolkata so his bowlers could get much more assistance. However, the Eden Gardens curator, Sujan Mukherjee, refused to entertain any request, saying he would not alter the pitch conditions and would go by the BCCI rules.
This comment from Sujan invited criticism from all corners, and former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull advised KKR to move out of Kolkata if they were not getting pitches to their liking.
KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit has now confirmed that his franchise is not in control of preparing the pitches at home.
"Who will not be happy about that? I mean, this is a simple answer," said Pandit during a pre-match press conference when asked whether all IPL teams should be allowed to have a say in conditions.
"See, as a coach, as a team management, whatever the surface has been provided to us, we play. The control, of course, will be under [the] curator. And at this moment, the focus is definitely going to be on the next game tomorrow, which we are playing against MI," he added.
'We expect something helpful to be provided'
The KKR coach also expressed hope of seeing tracks at the Eden Gardens assist his team later in the season. The defending champions began their IPL 2025 season with a loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Since the start of the IPL 2025 season, several franchises and their staff members have spoken about the need for favourable home conditions.
"No. In charge of everything at the ground… I don't know. That doesn't mean that they [the franchises] have a control of preparing wickets. I mean, ultimately, I don't know what is the system in different states or different grounds, whether the control is with the franchise. But, at the moment, what I understand is the surface which is given to us, as a team management, as a coach, as a captain, probably we expect something [helpful] to be provided. So, that's all," Chandrakant Pandit said.
Earlier, CSK coach Stephen Fleming said that his team has no home advantage as they have been unable to read the pitch conditions at Chepauk. On the other hand, Gujarat Titans assistant coach Parthiv Patel stated that his side deliberately opted for a black soil pitch against the Mumbai Indians.
