Playing at home usually provides a level of comfort for a team, especially after coming off a heavy defeat in its opener.

The Kolkata Knight Riders, losing by six wickets to Mumbai Indians (MI) in their IPL 2026 opener at the Wankhede on Sunday, face Sunrisers Hyderabad next at Eden Gardens — their home venue — on Thursday. Not just that game, but the Knight Riders will also host Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants on April 6 and 9, respectively.

Will the Knights find the home conditions to their liking?

Just as they did last year, the Knight Riders management has requested Eden curator Sujan Mukherjee to prepare a pitch that aids their spin duo of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. The request from the Knight Riders was made even before they had left for their campaign opener against MI, sources in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) said.

Whether the Knights like it or not, at the Eden, they will have to play on wickets that won’t differ much from those that were used during the T20 World Cup games. Those pitches were quite sporting, having some purchase for the quicks, though the task for spinners became tougher bowling second in the night matches, which was noticed during the India-West Indies Super Eight clash at the T20 Cup and the New Zealand-South Africa semi-final.

“Three pitches have been prepared for the tournament... Like it is done every time, a good wicket, which gives value for strokes, will be prepared. To get purchase off the track, you obviously have to bowl well and be careful of the lengths you bowl,” Eden curator Mukherjee told The Telegraph on Monday.

“On several occasions here in the past, we have seen teams positioning a fielder or two at the slip cordon when pacers, in particular, were bowling. So, that means the pitches did have something in it for the bowlers,” Mukherjee added.

To ensure that the Knights are not disheartened at home, there could be an effort to make the pitches a little bit on the slower side, allowing more assistance to Narine and Varun. However, a CAB insider warned: “Preparing a rank turner may backfire.”

Head coach Abhishek Nayar urged the need to “plan better and fight harder” for the Sunrisers game, during his dressing room speech after Sunday’s game. But first, the KKR bowlers, including their spin duo, have to buck up for a quick bounce back.