Over the last few days, the ‘home advantage’ debate accounted for a lot of column-inches. It started with Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane asking for a bit more turn on the Eden Gardens pitches, after his side lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2025 opener. Then, Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming and Lucknow Super Giants mentor Zaheer Khan, too, joined the party, taking forward the discourse. KKR mentor Dwayne Bravo contradicted the popular narrative.
KKR and Sunrisers Hyderabad will face-off at Eden on Thursday. Bravo attended the pre-match press conference and the question to him was whether the so-called ‘home advantage’ has any relevance in T20s. A cricket pitch doesn’t change its nature over the course of just 40 overs. The Trinidadian played down the ‘home advantage’ factor, surface-wise.
“I don’t know much about pitches,” Bravo told reporters. “For me, you turn up, you play and the better team who plays best on the day will win the game. So whether the pitch is slow, whether it’s turning, whether it’s not turning, for me, my language will always be to the players, make the necessary assessment, make the necessary adjustments and play according to the conditions.”
The 41-year-old put fans at the centre stage. “What helps us with home advantage is the fans,” he said. “I think that is more important than how the pitch plays. I will not really comment much about pitches, but more than the process, and once the fans are there into the game and cheering us on, that makes a difference.”
It struck a chord with Gautam Gambhir’s philosophy — never complain about the pitch and play fearless cricket irrespective of the conditions. Bravo’s predecessor at KKR never allowed external factors to ruffle the side and barely a word was spoken during the team’s title march last year. And the new mentor appears to be cut from the same cloth.
As RevSportz has reported, the hosts aren’t going to get a rank turner for the game against SRH. It is expected to offer a bit of turn and might play a tad slower. It is learnt that KKR are mulling changes in their team composition, on the heels of a heavy defeat against Mumbai Indians.