Several IPL franchises have complained about the perceived lack of ‘home advantage’, as far as the pitches at their venues are concerned, but IPL veteran Dwayne Bravo believes it’s the fans which make the crucial difference as both sets of players have to adjust to the playing surface.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) mentor Zaheer Khan, after the defeat on Tuesday, said – only half-jokingly – that it looked like “it was the Punjab (Kings) curator out there.”
LSG joined Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in claiming that they receive few favours from curators at their home venues, but Bravo – the KKR mentor these days – it’s the passion in the stands that provides the real advantage.
“What helps with the home advantage is the fans. I think that is more important than how the pitch plays. I can’t really comment much on the pitches but once the fans enter the game, cheer us on, that makes a difference,” Bravo said on Wednesday, ahead of KKR’s second home match of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The 41-year-old Trinidadian should know. He won four IPL titles with CSK and also appeared for Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Lions, and has been a constant feature in the tournament over the years.
“I don’t know much about pitches. For me, the team who plays the best on the day will win. So, whether the pitch is slow, whether it’s turning, whether it’s not turning, my advice to the players will always be to make the necessary assessments, and play according to the conditions.”
The Eden Gardens has been KKR’s home venue since the inception of the league, and the team has always enjoyed vociferous home support. Even when crowd-pullers like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are part of the opposition, the home crowd has stood behind their own team.
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But in recent times, the KKR management has made it known that the pitch wasn’t prepared keeping their own strengths in mind. Even in 2023, then captain Nitish Rana had expressed his displeasure about the pitch, saying every IPL team has a home advantage except KKR.
This season, coach Chandrakant Pandit and skipper Ajinkya Rahane have indicated that they would like a pitch that provides enough assistance to their slower bowlers.
In the past, Eden Garden used to offer a slow surface which would help KKR, who have always been dependent on their spinners – with the likes of Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Varun Chakaravarthy and Piyush Chawla in their ranks over the years. But of late, the pitch is often flat and offering plenty of runs, with Punjab Kings even chasing down a score of 261 last year.
This year, Narine and Varun are still the bedrock of the KKR attack, and it’s no surprise that the team wants a pitch that would play into their hands. Whether they get it for the contest against the marauding SRH batting line-up remains to be seen.