Follow UsThe Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has written a letter to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), asking them not to assign Harsha Bhogle and Simon Doull on commentary duties for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 games that will be played at Eden Gardens, reported RevSportz. Eden Gardens will host four more league games before also hosting the Qualifier 2 and the final.
The CAB has made a request after the aforementioned two openly criticised the Eden Gardens surface and the curator for not assisting the home team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), in the IPL 2025. There has hardly been any spin on offer in Kolkata, and the KKR team management has also not been happy with the pitches on offer at their home venue. The CAB, however, is backing their curator, Sujan Mukherjee, saying he hasn’t done anything wrong.
"RR, if they are playing at home, should get the tracks that they think are suited for their bowlers. So too with KKR. I saw something that the KKR curator has said. If I'm in the KKR camp, I'm extremely unhappy of what he said because I'm not asking for a 120 surface. I'm just saying, give me a surface where my bowlers can win matches,” Bhogle said on Cricbuzz.
“To say, 'sorry, we don't prepare pitches like that...' No. We are not asking you to make a 120 pitch, we are not asking you to make a 240 pitch. But I think home advantage in a tournament like IPL is absolutely legitimate. That will enhance the tournament because winning away becomes crucial then.”
Former New Zealand fast bowler Doull added: "If he's not taking heed of what the home team wants... I mean they are paying the stadium fees, they are paying for what's going on in the IPL but if he's still not paying heed of what the home team wants, then just move the franchise away to somewhere else. His job is not to pass an opinion on the game. That's not what he's paid for.”
In response, Mukherjee told RevSportz: "I do not have to bother about what Harsha Bhogle or Simon Doull said. What matters to me is what the spectators and my association say about the wicket. I am accountable to the BCCI for producing a good sporting wicket."
KKR have won three of their seven fixtures so far and are currently at No.7 on the IPL 2025 points table. They are scheduled to play Gujarat Titans (GT) at Eden Gardens on April 21 (Monday), and both Bhogle and Doull are not part of the commentary panel.