‘KKR can completely dismantle opposition if…’: Irfan Pathan revives home advantage debate after Kolkata’s big CSK win

In this edition of the IPL, there has been a lot of debate about the home advantage that the 10 franchises should have. The debate started after KKR’s loss to RCB in the opening match of the season, when skipper Ajinkya Rahane expressed his desire to have a spin-friendly track at Eden Gardens (KKR’s home ground), but Pitch Curator Sujan Mukherjee denied the request in an interview, stating that he will only do what the BCCI says.

While KKR haven’t had the best of seasons since then, winning a total of 2 of their 5 matches, things took a positive turn on Friday. The Rahane-led franchise inflicted a mammoth 8-wicket defeat on Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium as the hosts struggled to score runs on a spin-friendly track.

CSK were eventually restricted to 103 runs in their 20 overs, which the hosts managed to chase down in just 10.1 overs. After the match, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan once again raked up the issue of home advantage, adding that KKR can dismantle the opposition when they get a track that favours the spinners.

Irfan Pathan backs KKR’s home advantage:

In a post on Instagram, Pathan said, “One thing has become clear — if the Kolkata spinners get a spin-friendly pitch, a turning pitch, a slow pitch where there’s assistance, then these guys will completely dismantle the opposition, just like they did with CSK. This shows that if things go right in terms of the pitch at their home ground, then this team is absolutely brilliant.”

“Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora also bowled well, but the three spinners together took six wickets. Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, if they get a pitch like this, there’s no one more dangerous than them.” the former cricketer added

Ajinkya Rahane on the home advantage controversy:

Rahane in a press conference recently had also talked about the issue, stating, “There has been enough talk about the wicket. You guys have spoken about it a lot. If I say something now, then the furore will erupt. Our curator has gotten a lot of publicity. I think he is happy with that publicity.”

“You can write anything you want to about the home advantage. If I have to say anything about the home advantage, I’ll probably speak to the governing council or the concerned authorities than to speak here,” KKR skipper added.