Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee is not happy with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Nitish Rana expressing disappointment for not having home advantage in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
No home advantage
“IPL is not played on home advantage, and the captain may say anything he wants,” Mukherjee told Indian Express. “Does IPL have a clause where it is written that pitches have to be produced according to the wishes of the IPL franchise?”
KKR rely on their spin bowling attack that boasts the likes of Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and young Suyash Sharma. Spin played a vital role when KKR won the title in 2012 and 2014 editions under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir.
Changing the pitch isn’t easy
The track has changed over the years as it has favoured pacers and allowed batters to take the attack to the opposition. For Mukherjee, changing the way pitch behaves for two months of IPL cricket does not make sense. “There are a lot of problems which I cannot talk about, and changing the pitch for KKR is not easy,” the pitch curator opined.
“Look at other IPL teams, like RCB and DC; they do not talk or complain about home advantage. They play on what is provided to them,” he added.
However, Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper David Warner is not happy with the pitch at Arun Jaitley Stadium as his side has struggled to post a challenging total on several occasions. After the clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS), DC opener even joked about wanting the same pitch as Dharamsala which favoured batters.
KKR’s playoffs chances
In their previous clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), KKR chased down the target of 145 with six wickets in hand and nine balls to spare. Currently, they are placed seventh on the points table with six wins from 13 games and a negative net run rate (NRR). They will face Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their next clash at Eden Gardens. They don't just need to beat Krunal Pandya-led LSG but by a big margin to have a chance to qualify for playoffs. Even then, they will have to depend on outcomes of other games.
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