There’s been quite a stir in cricket circles lately about whether IPL teams should have the power to decide what type of pitch they play on at home games. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) usually keeps tight rules on this to prevent teams from having too much of a home edge, but comments from players like Ajinkya Rahane and Zaheer Khan have opened up a new discussion.
Rahane, who leads the Kolkata Knight Riders, expressed a desire for a pitch at Eden Gardens that benefits his spinners after they faced a tough loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the season opener. On the flip side, Zaheer Khan, who mentors the Lucknow Super Giants, was not pleased with how their pitch was set up for their home match against Punjab Kings, which ended in an eight-wicket defeat for them.
Aakash Chopra, a former Indian opener, weighed in, stating he believes home teams should have a say in pitch conditions to gain that all-important home advantage. He told ESPNcricinfo that he feels every team should have the opportunity to choose the type of pitch they want. Home advantage is real, he said, pointing out that it comes from two main factors: the pitch itself and the support from the crowd. He made a good point too—while the crowd plays a role, the pitch is really what can turn the game in a team’s favor. If the surface isn’t suitable, everything goes off track for the team’s game plan.
On the other side of the debate, former allrounder Sanjay Bangar thinks teams should already know what their home conditions are like and use that knowledge to form their squads. He believes that teams should build their line-ups based on their experience and the specifics of past games at their home ground. “You can definitely consider past performances and conditions when putting a team together. But if you just pick your players and then ask the groundsmen to tailor a pitch, that doesn’t sit right with how things should work, Bangar pointed out.
So, it seems there’s a bit of a tug-of-war happening in cricket about how much say a team should have in these decisions. On one hand, it makes sense that teams want a helping hand to leverage what they know about their home conditions. On the other, keeping a level playing field is important for fairness in the competition. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the future!
