The start of the IPL 2025 campaign has not been good for defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders. Playing at home at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the Ajinkya Rahane-led side slumped to a seven-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. For RCB, left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya was the highest wicket-taker. After the match, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane Said: “We would love to see the pitch helping the spin bowlers but again, this wicket was under cover for the last one-and-a-half days. Both the spinners we have, the quality they have, they can bowl in any kind of wicket and I am sure they are confident as well.”
KKR spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy took a wicket each. However, Eden Gardens curator Sujan Mukherjee said he was not going to make any changes and even gave the example of the RCB spinners.
"As per the IPL rules and regulations, franchises have no say over the pitch. Ever since I have taken charge (as Eden curator), the pitches here have been like this. It was like this in the past. Things haven't changed now, and it will not be altered in the future,” Mukherjee told RevSportz.
"Their (RCB) spinners took four wickets between them. What did the KKR spinners do? Krunal Pandya got three wickets. Suyash Sharma turned the ball to castle Andre Russell."
Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) bowling coach Bharat Arun has thrown his weight behind Andre Russell, backing the star all-rounder to bounce back in their crucial Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash against Rajasthan Royals on Wednesday. After an underwhelming performance in their season opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Russell is keen to make a statement in their second match in Guwahati.
KKR endured a tough start to their campaign, losing to RCB by seven wickets. While Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, and Sunil Narine contributed with the bat, their middle order failed to fire. Russell managed just four runs, while Venkatesh Iyer also fell cheaply, exposing a weak link that cost them the match. However, Arun believes Russell's failure was just a minor blip.
“Sport is about failing. You fail more often than you succeed. Champions like Russell, I think, must be weighing on his mind that he failed the last game, and he is out to prove himself every single game. We are also hoping he will come good in tomorrow's game,” Arun said in the pre-match press conference.
With IANS inputs