Ajinkya Rahane has never really come across as someone wearing his heart on his sleeve or being as expressive as a Rohit Sharma or a Virat Kohli. But the Eden pitch and the overall aspect of home advantage seem to be somewhat affecting the Kolkata Knight Riders captain, whose quality 61 off 35 balls against the Lucknow Super Giants went in vain on Tuesday.
At the post-match presentation following the Knights’ four-run loss, Rahane said he had no complaints with the wicket. But later at the news conference, the smiling skipper had some words for Eden curator Sujan Mukherjee.
“There has been enough talk about the wicket. Par main abhi kuch bolunga na, toh bawaal ho jaayga (But there could be a controversy if I say anything now). So, let’s keep it that way.
“Jo humaare curator hai, unko publicity bahut pasand hai (Our curator is fond of getting publicity), and I think he’s happy with the publicity. Regarding home advantage, I will tell whatever I have to the IPL and the authorities concerned rather than saying it here,” Rahane said when asked if home advantage was being neutralised this season.
If that wasn’t all, Rahane, at the start of the news conference, said “there was no help for the spinners”.
Mukherjee refrained from reacting to Rahane’s words. “I don’t wish to say anything on this matter. You all know how I work,” the Eden curator told The Telegraph.
Praising Super Giants’ Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran for their sensational strokeplay, Rahane also acknowledged his bowlers’ inability in terms of execution. “Both are quality players, so the margin of error is very less when you’re bowling to them.
“I thought our bowlers’ plans were perfect, but they couldn’t bowl in the right areas or nail that perfect yorker or wide yorker. And they (Marsh and Pooran) just capitalised on those easier balls.
“I would still say our quicks — Spencer (Johnson) coming back (in place of Moeen Ali) and Harshit (Rana) — tried their best,” Rahane said.