Pictures are worth a thousand words. A couple of images at Eden Gardens, as Sunrisers Hyderabad trained on Tuesday, raised the curiosity quotients. After SRH came to the ground, Mohammed Shami went to curator Sujan Mukherjee and the two had a conversation. Some time later, Cricket Association of Bengal president, Snehasish Ganguly walked up to the centre square and had a discussion with Mukherjee that looked to be intense. Kolkata Knight Riders, the home team, didn’t turn up. They were returning from Mumbai.
Still very early into IPL 2025, but suddenly the April 3 game against SRH has assumed a greater significance for KKR, on the heels of their batting implosion at Wankhede Stadium. On a pitch that had bounce and a bit of movement, the KKR batters, ostensibly devoid of a Plan B, fared poorly. Another defeat, and the defending champions run the risk of surrendering the early season initiative. The caravan that moved so smoothly last term, could suddenly have its tyres slashed.
On the face of it, the focus should be on the players at this moment. But the developments over the past week have turned the spotlight on Mukherjee. Will he, won’t he? Will KKR find home comfort on an Eden turner. Or is it much ado about nothing, pitch-wise?
The build-up has put the rumour mill on an overdrive. But it’s time to hold one’s horses. KKR are not going to get a rank turner for the SRH game, RevSportz understands. “Even if someone tries his best to make it a rank turner, it won’t be possible,” said a source in the know. “The way the pitches are composed (here), a radical overhaul is not possible. The pitch will have some turn. Then again, the pitch offered turn in the first game (against Royal Challengers Bengaluru) as well.”
A story is doing the rounds that two pitches are being prepared for the SRH game and the ground staff at Eden has stopped watering them. It was brushed aside. “Who is saying so,” asked the source. “The fundamental principles of pitch preparations will not be compromised.”
KKR’s narratives sort of follow a pattern. In the seasons of ferment, the Knights grumble. It was the case in 2023, when the team’s then stand-in captain, Nitish Rana, had spoken about how they were the only team in the IPL not to have a “home advantage”. In 2024, a season of smooth sailing and triumph, the pitch-discourse was on the back burner. This time, after just one defeat, captain Ajinkya Rahane had urged for a little more help from the tracks for his spinners. Mukherjee’s response to that to RevSportz triggered a national debate.
Mind, KKR had played seven games at Eden last season, winning five of them, on pitches that mirrored the one used for the RCB fixture. There, though, is a school of thought that for a side boasting spin royalty — Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy — a surface where the ball is gripping would be ideal. KKR got one of that kind in their away match against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati, and their spinners were in their element.
The counter-logic is that a batting line-up replete with enforcers can become jittery when the ball is deviating — seam, swing or spin. The MI game was a case in point.
Is the pitch issue serving as a distraction for KKR? Hopefully not, for that could be detrimental at a time when bouncing back from a demoralising defeat has become the need of the hour. Last season, the side had Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer — the knights in shining armour. They had match-winners like Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc.
Retaining all the players who contributed to KKR’s title win wasn’t practically possible in a mega auction. Still, the management walked the extra mile to keep the core. They broke the bank — Rs 23.75 crore — to buy back Venkatesh Iyer at the auction. Like-for-like replacements for Salt and Starc were brought in by buying Quinton de Kock and Spencer Johnson, respectively. No wonder that Eoin Morgan, the former KKR captain, is still very hopeful of his beloved side hitting a purple patch.
“We have to learn really fast,” Rahane said at the post-match presentation after the game against MI. The skipper nailed it. As regards their batting, KKR need to have a Plan B when the degree of difficulty is higher.
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