After suffering a seven-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening game of the IPL 2025, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane indirectly requested Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee about a possible change in condition. The home team wants a more spin-friendly surface that will help the likes of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy among others but the curator noted that the pitch will not be altered as long as he is in power.
“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 kind of wicket and I am sure they are confident as well,” Rahane said in the post-match conference.
Replying to that, Sujan stated that the IPL teams have no power to give directions to pitch curators. He argued that the surface at Eden Gardens has been the same since he joined that will always remain like that till he is in power.
“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,” Sujan told Revsportz.
"Their (RCB) spinners took four wickets between them. What did the KKR spinners do? Krunal Pandya got three wickets. Suyash Sharma turned the ball to castle Andre Russell," he added while talking about Rahane's request.
Notably, the defending champions will play their next game against Rajasthan Royals on March 26 at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Then they will play Mumbai Indians away from home before hosting Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens on April 3.
Ahead of that, the team management needs to address both the batting and bowling departments. The middle order completely failed in the match against RCB in the last game while the bowlers leaked plenty of runs in the powerplay, which ruled out their chance for a possible comeback in the latter half of the game.