KKR coach supports giving home teams advantageous playing conditions

Franchise Frustrations Grow Over Lack of Control on IPL Home Pitches

The debate around home advantage — or the lack of it — has gathered steam in IPL 2025, with multiple coaches and players voicing concern over not being able to influence pitch conditions at their home grounds. Among the more vocal has been Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Chandrakant Pandit, who believes teams should be able to shape surfaces to suit their strengths, especially for home matches.

“Who wouldn’t want that?” Pandit responded when asked if franchises should have a say in their home conditions. “It’s a simple answer.”

So far, home teams have won just five of the first ten matches this season, sparking questions about whether pitch neutrality is undercutting the traditional home advantage. KKR themselves lost their opener at Eden Gardens to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) before bouncing back with an away win over Rajasthan Royals.

Pandit clarified, however, that franchises currently have no authority over pitch preparation.

“As a team management, we play on whatever surface is given to us,” he said. “The control lies with the curator. At this moment, our focus is on the next match — we take what we get.”

Pressed again on whether KKR had any input on Eden pitches, Pandit reiterated, “I don’t know what the system is at other grounds, but here, the surface is prepared by the ground staff. We may have expectations, but ultimately, it’s out of our hands.”

This sentiment was echoed earlier when KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane expressed disappointment that the Eden pitch hadn’t assisted their spinners — a key strength of the team. Following that loss, Eden’s chief curator Sujan Mukherjee cited BCCI regulations that explicitly bar franchises or players from influencing pitch preparation.

“As per BCCI guidelines, pitch and ground preparation is the sole responsibility of the host association’s chief curator, under the supervision of the BCCI-appointed venue curator,” Mukherjee said. “Franchises and players are not allowed any say.”

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) coach Stephen Fleming took a more direct approach following his side’s 50-run loss at Chepauk, saying, “We’ve had no home advantage at Chepauk for a while. We’re trying to understand the pitches, but they’ve been different every game. We don’t know what we’re going to get.”

Traditionally known for slow, spinning surfaces, Chepauk offered pace-friendly conditions in CSK’s second home game, where RCB pacers dominated with figures of 10-0-59-6.

Interestingly, Gujarat Titans (GT) assistant coach Parthiv Patel offered a rare admission of a team influencing their home pitch — deliberately choosing black soil for their clash against Mumbai Indians to counter MI’s red-soil preparations.

“We wanted to play on black soil,” Patel said during a mid-match interview. “It’s slower and stickier, so it suited our strategy.” The result? A 36-run win aided by disciplined pace-off bowling.

As the tournament progresses and 200-plus totals become frequent, the conversation around pitch control, fairness, and strategic advantage is only set to grow louder — with bowlers, coaches, and fans all watching closely.

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