Former RCB Coach Sanjay Bangar Hits Back At KKR And PBKS Over Pitch Controversy, Highlights BCCI's Role In Curation Of Turfs

IPL 2025: The ongoing eighteenth edition of the Indian Premier League has turned the spotlight on the pitches and how teams are not being able to use them to their advantage. Unlike last year, this time around, fewer games have been played with scores in excess of 200 runs. Two hundred runs being scored for fun had become a regular norm in IPL 2024, and the integrity of the game was severely questioned.

Recently, it was reported that Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Ajinkya Rahane had made an indirect request to the Eden pitch curator to make the turf favorable to spinners. The request was eventually turned down by the head curator. Punjab Kings have also come forward and spoken about how they are not being able to exploit their home conditions to the fullest.

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Sanjay Bangar Wants the BCCI to Intervene to Oversee Pitch Curation

Former India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru coach Sanjay Bangar said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should call the shots to some extent as far as pitch curation is concerned. Bangar also feels that without BCCI's interference, the franchises will take a massive advantage of the home conditions.

"If you totally give it to the hands of the franchise, you do not really want the game to be too lopsided as well," Bangar said. "So, I'm of the opinion [of having] a little bit of uniformity wherein not having too much of a say for the home side, still there is enough variety in terms of the vast nature of our country wherein cricket is played all across the nation. In itself, it has variations in terms of red soil, black soil, and all of that. I'm of the opinion that a little bit of direction or guideline is always better."

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The Eden Pitch Under the Scanner for SRH Game

After all the verbal volleys fired by the Eden Gardens pitch curator, it will be interesting to see how the turf at the Gardens plays out. It is being said that the pitch at the Eden Gardens will be on the slower side and might assist the spinners a bit more.

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