Rahane to discuss Eden pitch with IPL as he avoids drama surrounding the nature of his side’s home pitch this year.
Rahane discuss Eden pitch with IPL authorities as he steers clear of ‘chaos’.
“I would rather not talk. Following a close loss for Chelsea in 2014, Jose Mourinho famously remarked, “If I speak, I’m in big trouble.” The refereeing in that match versus Aston Villa was the reason for that. Ajinkya Rahane, the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), made much the same statement on Tuesday. “Agar main kuch bolunga na toh bawal ho jayega” ( “If I say anything, it’ll create chaos).”
He didn’t have to explain. After KKR lost to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by a just four runs in an IPL 2025 match in which their spinners had minimal effect, speculation about whether the Eden Gardens surface plays to the host team’s advantages resumed.
Rahane elaborates on pitch chaos
“Let me just keep it that way. Jo humare curator hai, unko bahut publicity mila hai (this discussion has just given our curator a lot of publicity),” Rahane went on to add in the post-match press conference. “Whatever you’d like to write about home advantage, you can go ahead. If I have any concerns, I will talk to the IPL about it, rather than you guys, and discuss with the concerned authorities.”
“Firstly, there was no help for the spinners, let me clear that,” Rahane said when asked why Narine’s quota was not completed. “They used the longer boundary really well. Our bowlers tried as well, but again, Nicholas Pooran (87* in 36 balls) and Mitchell Marsh (81 in 48) batted really well.
“Sometimes what happens is, as a bowling unit, when we have that plan, it’s all about execution, and that didn’t happen tonight for us,” Rahane said. “Against strong, quality players like Pooran and Marsh, as bowlers, there is very little margin of error. I thought our plans were perfect, but we couldn’t nail that perfect yorker or wide slower ball. And they just capitalised on those slightly loose balls or easier balls.”
On KKR’s batting
Despite their four-run loss, Rahane thought there were enough encouraging things to remember, particularly their powerplay batting. He hit 61 in 35 balls, and his shots, along with those of Venkatesh Iyer (45 in 29) and Narine (30 in 13), kept KKR in the game. After the first six overs, they were 90 for 1, which was their second-best IPL powerplay performance.
“I thought we played really good cricket, you know. Chasing 239 and coming that close is never easy,” Rahane said. “Everyone’s intent and attitude was really positive when we came into the dressing room after 20 overs of bowling. And we thought we will chase it down. But these things happen, you know. When you’re chasing, you will lose two-three wickets in between.
“I thought the way we started in the powerplay with Sunny’s intent and Venkatesh Iyer’s batting, their contribution was amazing. So we got more positives I feel. I always believe that whatever happened in this game, it’s past now. As long as we are learning from our mistakes and the good things we have done, that’s all.”