NEW DELHI: When asked about the Eden Gardens pitch after the toss, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane replied that the home team should get what they want. The question is routine one after a toss, but with the controversy surrounding Eden pitch in recent days made it a loaded one on Thursday.
As KKR faced Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2025 at Eden Gardens, Rahane was quizzed about the surface amid reports of a rift between KKR and the Eden curator over pitch conditions.
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Former England cricketer Nick Knight asked Rahane if he was happy with the pitch, to which the KKR captain, momentarily surprised, responded with a smile.
"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," Rahane said at the toss.
SRH captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bowl, hoping to reverse last season’s results, where KKR had dominated them.
"We will bowl. Looks like a good surface, but I'm terrible at reading it. They outplayed us in the final last year, but both sides have changed a bit," said Cummins.
With both teams eager to climb the points table, a high-stakes contest unfolded at Eden Gardens.
KKR vs SRH Playing XIs:
Sunrisers Hyderabad XI: 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 XI: 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
