Chopra: 'IPL home teams should have the right to choose their pitch conditions'

Should IPL Teams Control Their Home Pitches? Debate Heats Up in 2025 Season

The question of how much influence IPL teams should have over their home pitch conditions has taken center stage early in the 2025 season. With teams increasingly vocal about inconsistent surfaces and limited input, the debate around home advantage and fairness is intensifying.

Kolkata Knight Riders coach Chandrakant Pandit recently claimed his team has little control over pitch preparation at Eden Gardens. Chennai Super Kings’ Stephen Fleming denied any significant edge at Chepauk, citing struggles to read their own pitches. And after a loss to Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants mentor Zaheer Khan remarked that the Ekana pitch looked like it had been curated by the opposition.

Amid this, former India opener Aakash Chopra has taken a firm stand in favor of giving franchises more say. "Every home team should have the right to decide the kind of surface they want," Chopra said on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out. “Home advantage comes mainly from the pitch and the crowd. Take away the pitch, and you derail all plans.”

Chopra emphasized that team selection often revolves around expected home conditions, which becomes problematic for franchises forced to play in secondary venues. “You don’t pick a team thinking about Guwahati or Dharamsala—you build a side for your primary home ground,” he said. “If you don’t get the surface you planned for, things fall apart.”

However, not everyone agrees. Former India allrounder and coach Sanjay Bangar warned against giving franchises full control, calling instead for consistency and oversight. “You don’t want games becoming too one-sided,” Bangar said. “Pitches should still retain their natural characteristics, but there should be general guidelines.”

Bangar also pointed out the logistical limitations at smaller venues like Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where matches are usually confined to just two pitches. “You can’t vary much there—it’s practically impossible,” he said.

Instead, Bangar suggested teams should build squads based on historical data from their home grounds, rather than requesting custom-made pitches after squad formation. “You can factor in past conditions during auctions,” he added. “But asking curators for tailor-made pitches afterward doesn’t sit right.”

Chopra, however, remained steadfast, arguing that the IPL already has systems in place—like match referees and the Fair Play Award—to prevent pitch abuse. “If a surface is completely unfit, pull the team up,” he said. “But within reason, teams should be allowed to ask for conditions that suit their strategy.”

Using a food analogy to make his point, Chopra said: “I’m not asking you to remove chicken from butter chicken—I’m just saying maybe make it a bit milder or less oily.”

Ultimately, the root of the issue lies in ownership. IPL franchises rent stadiums from state associations and don’t employ the groundstaff. “They’re living on rent,” Bangar said. “You can’t make big changes when you don’t own the place. Maybe in the future, when franchises own grounds, that will change.”

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