Aakash Chopra believes that IPL teams should have the right to choose pitch conditions for their home matches to gain a real home advantage.
The debate over IPL teams influencing pitch conditions has gained momentum after recent remarks from Ajinkya Rahane and Zaheer Khan. BCCI guidelines prohibit franchises from demanding specific pitches, but the discussion continues.
Rahane, leading Kolkata Knight Riders, expressed concerns after their IPL 2025 opener loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru, hoping for spin-friendly conditions at Eden Gardens. Similarly, Lucknow Super Giants mentor Zaheer Khan questioned the nature of their home pitch after an eight-wicket defeat to Punjab Kings, suggesting it favored the opposition.
Former cricketer Aakash Chopra believes teams should have the right to request pitches that favor them. He argued that home advantage comes from both crowd support and pitch conditions.
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“I feel every home team should have the right to decide the kind of surface that they want. They should demand the surface, and they should get it, is what I feel, because home advantage is real, and that comes in only two forms: one is the surface that you choose and the second is the crowd support that is there. Other than that it’s an away game,” Chopra told ESPNCricinfo.
“The paramount thing is the surface they are going to play on – crowd might still be secondary. If you take away the pitch, I think whole plans completely derail,” he added.
KKR, CSK Coaches Address Pitch Concerns
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Chandrakant Pandit stated that his team has little say in pitch preparation at Eden Gardens. Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming also dismissed claims of a strong home advantage at Chepauk, citing difficulties in reading conditions in recent seasons.
However, former India all-rounder Sanjay Bangar believes franchises should rely on past experiences to select players rather than requesting pitch alterations. Asking for specific surfaces after team selection, he feels, affects the league’s integrity.
“You can clearly build a team taking into account the past knowledge and past experience of what has happened on that particular venue, and pick a team. But if you pick a team and then ask the groundsman (for a particular kind of pitch), then I don’t think that will go down well with the system,” Bangar opined.
