IPL 2023: 'There's nothing wrong in the Eden Gardens pitch,' says KKR coach Chandrakant Pandit

Kolkata Knight Riders` players (Pic: AFP)

Kolkata Knight Riders have lost four out of the seven matches they have played on their home ground. In view of the same, KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit on Friday clarified that there was nothing wrong in the Eden Gardens pitch as he took the blame for failing to exploit the home advantage in the IPL this season.

KKR skipper Nitish Rana's remarks on every other team having done well on their home ground triggered a blame game between KKR and the hosts Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). But Pandit cleared the air saying they never blamed the pitches they got here.

"I think you people have misunderstood it (Rana's remarks). Home advantage means when we play at home, we would like to win," Pandit said ahead of their match against Lucknow Super Giants.

Expressing his disappointment over not being able to leverage the home advantage, he stated, "It's not a question of pitches or anything else. I'm talking about winning the game, and it's unfortunate that in spite of having home advantage, we have not been able to win many games that we played here".

Even if they manage to secure a victory over LSG in Saturday's match, they have a low probability of qualifying for playoffs as they have to rely on other teams' results to be in their favour.

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On being asked whether they were happy with the pitches being offered to them, he responded by saying that pitches have changed dramatically over a period of time.

"If you go to Wankhede or any other stadium, pitches have changed or (are) behaving differently. Nobody can guarantee how they will behave in a particular game. Many teams have not been able to take the home advantage in this tournament."

Summing up his comments, he said, "I gave you a simple answer. We should have taken advantage of the matches we played here because we were playing at home. It's sad that we were not able to exploit the home conditions."

Despite KKR's inconsistent performance this season, Pandit expressed confidence in his team while stating that they hope to win tomorrow's game.

(With PTI inputs)