KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane with head coach Chandrakant Pandit ahead of IPL 2025 match vs LSG at Eden Gardens. (Sportzpics for IPL)Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane channeled his inner Jose Mourinho as he gave a twist to the Portuguese football coach’s viral quote of “If I speak, I am in big trouble” when he said “Main kuch bolunga toh bawal ho jayega” while replying to a question about home advantage in the IPL.
“There have been enough talks over the wicket here. Main kuch bolunga to bawaal ho jayega (If I say anything, it’ll be a big controversy). Our curator has already gotten a lot of publicity and I think he is happy with that publicity. I’ll not say anything around the wicket here and will say it to the IPL and the concerned authorities,” Rahane said at the post-match press conference after KKR’s narrow 4-run loss to the Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
There have been plenty of discussions about the pitch at Eden and the home advantage in the league with news reports suggesting that Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee had denied requests from KKR captain Rahane for the pitch to support more spin in their opening match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Rahane had also said that he had no complaints about the pitch but the team would love to see some spin on this wicket. Even coach Chandrakant Pandit had echoed the captain’s words, saying ‘who wouldn’t be happy about having a home advantage’.
The issue looked to be resolved in the match against Hyderabad last week with Rahane even saying that they were happy with the pitch. “I’m really happy with the pitch. It will suit our spinners, at home, you should get what you want,” he had said at the toss against SRH.
But Rahane’s comments after the LSG game will no doubt stir the hornet’s nest.
In the match, the KKR bowlers failed to find much purchase from the pitch with LSG’s opening pair of Aiden Markram (47) and Mitchell Marsh (81) got them off to a blistering start with an opening stand of 99. After that, Nicholas Pooran would slam an unbeaten 87 as Lucknow posted a massive 238/3.
Chasing, Rahane scored a well-paced 61 while Rinku Singh slammed a 15-ball 38 but that wasn’t enough to drag KKR over the finish line.
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