This is an archive article published on March 21, 2025

When IPL’s first match in Kolkata was hit by floodlight failure and VVS Laxman, Ricky Ponting slammed ‘shocking’ Eden Gardens pitch

Only the third night into IPL 2008, KKR were at the Eden Gardens to host the now-defunct Deccan Chargers in their first IPL match at the venue before a floodlight failure and a poor pitch would irk VVS Laxman and Ricky Ponting.

The IPL got off to an eventful start in Kolkata when a floodlight failure and poor pitch hurt the KKR-Deccan Chargers match. (Reuters/PTI)

By: Sports Desk

3 min readMar 21, 2025 10:25 PM IST First published on: Mar 21, 2025 at 08:29 PM IST

The Indian Premier League carnival is set to enter its 18th season with the first match of IPL 2025 set to be played between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the iconic Eden Gardens.

For the first time in 17 years since the inaugural IPL match between KKR and RCB at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on April 18, 2008, the two teams will lock horns in an IPL season opener on Saturday. While the opening match of the T20 tournament itself was a spectacle worth remembering where KKR’s Brendon McCullum slammed a spellbinding 158 not out against RCB, the first-ever IPL match in Kolkata a few days later wasn’t short on the drama quotient either.

April 20, 2008: When lights went down at Eden on IPL debut

Only the third night into the tournament, KKR were at the Eden Gardens to host the now-defunct Deccan Chargers in their first IPL match at the venue. On a spicy pitch that wasn’t conducive to the batters, VVS Laxman’s Deccan unit tottered and toppled at 110 all out in 18.3 overs as left-arm spinner Murali Kartik led the attack for the Knights with three wickets. KKR would soon realise the chase wasn’t going to be easy either as Laxman’s men struck back with regular wickets, leaving the hosts reeling at 89/5 in 16.2 overs before one of the floodlights began acting up.

The Chargers captain Laxman was seen having an animated chat then with former India wicket-keeper and then match referee, Farokh Engineer. The Duckworth-Lewis scores at the point had cited that the scores were level and the match would finish in a tie in case no play was further possible. However, after more than 15 minutes of delay, the tower was back up again.

KKR would eventually scrape home by five wickets and an over to spare, thanks to David Hussey’s unbeaten 38. However, the India veteran Laxman could not hold back after the shambles on the field.

VVS slams Kolkata pitch, Eden floodlight failure

Not many can blame Laxman for an outrage over the pitch in a low-scoring contest. After all, few knew the Eden Gardens strip better than the Hyderabad stalwart, who cracked an epochal 281 in ‘that’ Test against Australia in 2001.

“It was not a good pitch for any form of the game. It was a shocking wicket,” Laxman said after the match. “In the Twenty20 format you expect high scores. Though the match became exciting in the end, it was tough for the batsmen to go for shots.”

“I played here in the Ranji Trophy and also a Test sometime back. The wicket was slow on both occasions. I think you are not getting the wicket we expect at Eden,” he added.

Laxman’s long-time rival and KKR batter Ricky Ponting would agree to his statement. “It was a shocker for all of us,” he said in a television interview, “but the curator apologised to both the teams later. Hopefully it will be a better surface when we’re out here next,” said Ponting.

Laxman also went to highlight the floodlight issue as a momentum-breaker in his team’s maiden IPL outing. “The interruption definitely affected us. The momentum was towards us. And the bowlers were in great rhythm,” Laxman added.