The Ajinkya Rahane-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) went head-to-head with the Rishabh Pant-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the 21st match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Tuesday, April 8.
Kolkata Knight Riders lost a thrilling match against the Lucknow Super Giants by 4 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Bowling first, KKR had a terrible outing as they allowed LSG to register 238/3. Chasing the target, they fought well but got restricted to 234/7.
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There has been a huge controversy revolving around the pitches produced for the home matches of KKR at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. After their defeat against RCB, the team management was unhappy with Eden Gardens curator Sujan Mukherjee refusing to provide a pitch that would aid their spinners.
Following that a war of words happened between the KKR team management and the curator and several cricket experts advised KKR to switch their home ground if they were not getting the pitch they demanded at home.
Later, KKR got a spin-friendly track for the match against SRH as Mukherjee agreed to have a discussion with Team KKR. However, a report in RevSportz revealed that their request for a used pitch for the LSG clash was rejected.
Speaking during the post-match press conference, Ajinkya Rahane expressed his disappointment over the pitch not offering help to the spinners. He bluntly said that the Kolkata pitch curator enjoys publicity and added that he would take the matter to the Indian Premier League governing council rather than speaking about it in the media. He said:
"Main kuch bolunga to bawaal ho jayega (If I say something, then it'll become a huge headline). The media has already made it a big thing. The curator has already gotten a lot of publicity and I think he enjoys that. So I'll not say anything around the wicket here and will rather say it to the IPL. You guys can write whatever you want."
On Home Advantage: Main kuch bolunga to bawaal ho jayega (If I say something, then it'll become a huge headline). The media has already made it a big thing. The curator has already gotten a lot of publicity and I think he enjoys that. So I'll not say anything around the wicket…
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) April 8, 2025
Sunil Narine was struggling with the ball - Ajinkya Rahane
Meanwhile, speaking to broadcasters, Ajinkya Rahane said that they gave their best in the match against LSG. Ajinkya Rahane said:
"A really tight one (game). As I said at the toss, the wicket remained good throughout the 40 overs. We gave our best, it was a great game, in the end we were just 4 runs short. When you are chasing 230-plus, you will lose wickets in the chase. This was one of the best wickets to bat on. Batters had to take a little time to get in."
Ajinkya Rahane further said that the struggle of Sunil Narine with the ball didn't help their matter as he has the ability to dominate the middle overs. Ajinkya Rahane stated:
"The bowling attack we have, we control our middle-overs really well. Sunil (Narine) was struggling with the ball. Sunil and Varun usually dominate the middle overs, but it was tough for the bowlers today."
How did KKR perform in the previous IPL match against LSG?
Kolkata Knight Riders delivered a dominant performance in their previous IPL match against the Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow and thrashed the hosts by 98 runs in a one-sided contest.
Batting first, KKR’s innings was headlined by Sunil Narine’s explosive 81 off just 39 balls. His opening partner Phil Salt also smashed a sensational 32 off 14 while the No.3 batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi (32 off 26) came up with a good contribution.
After that, the lower-order batters, including Ramandeep Singh (25* off 6), batted brilliantly and ensured KKR finished on a high at 235/6.
With the huge total on the board, KKR kept up the pressure with the ball. Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, and Sunil Narine ensured early breakthroughs. Varun Chakravarthy joined the party later with a three-wicket haul, as LSG collapsed from 70/1 to 137 all out in under 17 overs. Andre Russell also chipped in with two big wickets for KKR.
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