Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, it’s witnessed that the pitch controversy is making a lot of headlines since the initial stage of the tournament. In the opening match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the iconic Eden Gardens on March 22, when defending champions registered a seven-wicket loss, their captain Ajinkya Rahane requested more assistance for spinners. However, the ground curator, Sujan Mukherjee stated that until he is in-charge, he won’t allow the nature of the turf to be changed.
On April 8, KKR lost the high-scoring game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by four runs in Kolkata and Rahane again drew attention towards ineffective bowling conditions for spinners. Like Rahane, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Zaheer Khan also accused Ekana Cricket Stadium’s curator for preparing the surface as per Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the game between his side and the IPL 2014 runners-up. LSG captain Rishabh Pant remarked his team was expecting a slower wicket against Punjab with significant assistance to spinners. With IPL delivering high-scoring games, it’s witnessed that curators are focusing on creating flat pitches which require little application of dust on the playing turf.
MS Dhoni wants more batting-friendly wicket in Chennai
However, MS Dhoni wants Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium’s curator to prepare flat tracks that can help CSK batters enjoy the game. After guiding his team to victory against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at Ekana Cricket Stadium on April 14, Dhoni said that Chennai’s pitch has been on the slower side which has impacted his batters confidence.
"One of the reasons could be that the Chennai wicket is slightly on the slower side. When we have played away from home, the batting unit has done slightly better. Maybe we need to play on wickets that are slightly better so that it'll give the batters confidence to play their shots. You don't want to play timid cricket," said Dhoni after the win against LSG in Lucknow.
