A pitch with a decent amount of grass has been prepared for the Kolkata Knight Riders’ first game at home on Thursday. The wicket has been well watered too.
Spin is a strength for the three-time champions and the Knight Riders had requested for a surface with some assistance for their tweakers, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. However, looking at what’s on offer ahead of the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, the Knights are looking forward to put their “best foot forward” instead of hunting for excuses.
“You want the unexpected, and just because there’s grass on the pitch, it doesn’t change how we look at the game. We, as players and as support staff, have to be professional enough to take what’s put in front of us and run with it,” Knight Riders’ head coach Abhishek Nayar said on Wednesday.
“Those are circumstances, and sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. Am I surprised? I’m not. Because, there has been rain around. Over the last couple of days, it’s not easy for the groundsmen as well. So, whatever is prepared for us, we’ll try to make the most of it and play the kind of cricket we can without any excuses.”
Standing near the side of the surface, both Nayar and captain Ajinkya Rahane had a discussion with Eden curator Sujan Mukherjee.
The pitch for Thursday’s game is the one used for last month’s T20 World Cup semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa, a surface with little or no
help for spinners.
Sunrisers’ head coach Daniel Vettori believes the ball might “hold” a little bit on this surface, though an element of “surprise” cannot be ruled out either.
For the Knights, such a wicket cuts back their home advantage to a certain extent, something that had appeared to be a bone of contention between them and the Eden curator last year.
However, going by their head coach, “a good, fair pitch” is what the Knights seem to be wishing for.
“When the weather doesn’t support you, sometimes it’s not easy to curate the pitch you want to. Besides, I don’t like to overcomplicate things in my mind because all our boys play red-ball cricket, where you’re used to playing in different conditions. As a team, you don’t really know what your advantages are. You can prepare a turning
pitch, yet it can work against you.
“Yes, you want preferences, but in T20 cricket, one player can change the game. So, for me, a true pitch that supports batting and bowling is a good cricketing pitch because both players and viewers enjoy it.
“As long as it’s neutral and not very one-sided, we’re happy. A good, fair pitch is a good, fair pitch,” Nayar said.
