The pitch remains the talking point, a day ahead of the IPL 2025 game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants. As Revsportz already reported, there will be no used pitch for Tuesday’s game. The franchise’s request to give the same strip used for the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad has been turned down by Eden Gardens chief curator Sujan Mukherjee. It is learnt that pitch No. 4 will be used for the LSG match, which will be similar in nature to the one on which the home team registered a comprehensive 80-run win.
On Monday, players and support staff from both the teams made a thorough inspection of the wicket. For LSG, it was their mentor Zaheer Khan, along with their Bengal spinner Shahbaz Ahmed. The left-arm spinner went on to say, “It seems that the ball will stop and come. There is hope for runs. It will be helpful for the spinners.”
Wayne Bentley, who is KKR’s manager, walked up to the pitch curator at Eden Gardens and had a long chat with him. Moments later, a ground staff was seen spraying water on the wicket followed by a light roller being used with a cloth wrapped on it.
Sujan Mukherjee was also seen having a chat with the KKR Head Coach Chandrakant Pandit before the home side began their practice session. The twosome were soon joined by KKR’s spin-bowling coach Carl Crowe. After a few minutes, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Snehasish Ganguly and KKR CEO Venky Mysore were seen walking up to the pitch. The Eden curator was also invited in the discussion which went on for almost 15 minutes.
It was later learnt that since it is an afternoon game, there is a possibility of the cracks opening, which in turn produce vicious turn. The Eden curator did not want to risk preparing an under-prepared wicket and hence instructed his ground-staff to spray some water on it.
RevSportz understands that the strip for the LSG game could be a tad sluggish in nature, a la the SRH match. It will offer a bit of turn but nothing drastic. Dew should not be a factor in the second innings, although temperatures are expected to be around 33 degrees during start time, which could dictate the toss decision.
Both the captains, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant, did not turn up for the optional practice session on Monday. The latter was present at the Salt Lake stadium to witness the Indian Super League semifinal clash between Mohun Bagan Super Giants and Jamshedpur FC along with team owner Sanjiv Goenka.
Both teams have played four matches so far, winning two each, so they will be aiming for their third victory of the season. It remains to be seen if the three-time former champions can register consecutive wins at home.
🚨Pitch No. 4, slow burn and KKR likely to be unchanged
All the latest updates from @CricSubhayan, @shamik100, and @debasissen as KKR prepares for the LSG clash tomorrow at the Eden Gardens@ThumsUpOfficial #KKRvLSG #IPL2025 pic.twitter.com/Mm90gOwC6h
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) April 7, 2025
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