KKR vs SRH, IPL: Ajinkya Rahane breaks silence on Eden Gardens pitch controversy, says ‘looks good, I’m really happy’

Two weeks after complaining about the nature of the Eden Gardens pitch post their loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL 2025 opener, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane called for pitches that would assist spinners more, thereby giving the home advantage.

Since then, there has been a lot of debate on the Eden Garden’s pitch with curator Sujan Mukherjee responding with ‘franchises have no say over the pitch’ remark.

If it was KKR who first asked for spin-friendly tracks, teams like Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants joined the bandwagon, taking a dig at the home cricket association for for getting the ‘home advantage’.

If it was Kolkata Knight Riders who first urged for a spin-friendly wicket after losing the opener last month, Chennai Super Kings and of late Lucknow Super Giants have joined the bandwagon.

On Thursday, amidst all the ‘home advantage’ debate, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane addressed the elephant in the room, stating he is happy with the wicket they have been provided for the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad for their seocnd home game at the Eden Gardens.

“Looks good, I’m really happy with the pitch, we were also bowling first. It will suit our spinners, at home, you should get what you want, but we’ll need to assess the situation quickly with the bat,” Ajinkya Rahane said after losing the coin toss to SRH captain Pat Cummins.

KKR lay spin trap against SRH

Against SRH, KKR laid a spin trap with as many as three spinners in the side. With Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy, the three-time IPL champions have also brought in English spinner Moeen Ali to tighten the screws against the opposition. Spenser Johnson missed out.

Meanwhile, SRH have opted to bowl first, after Pat Cummins won the toss. The last year’s runners-up have made a few changes with Sri Lankan spinner Kamindu Mendis making his IPL debut.

The visitors have also brought in pacer Simarjeet Singh in the playing XI. Notably, Rinku Singh is playing his 50th match for KKR and was awarded a special jersey.

KKR vs SRH playing XIs, IPL 2025

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Aniket Verma, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Kamindu Mendis, Pat Cummins(c), Harshal Patel, Simarjeet Singh, Mohammed Shami, Zeeshan Ansari

Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy