3 pitches that don't suit the home teams in IPL 2023

We are at the halfway stage of IPL 2023 and there has already been a lot of exciting cricket in the tournament. The toughest league in the world has surely lived up to its hype with cut-throat competition amongst the teams in nearly all matches.

Such has been the nature of the competition that there are four teams that have won 4 out of their 7 games and are vying for the 3rd and 4th positions. The crowded nature of the points table, the new Impact Player Rule, the close games, and the quality of all 10 teams have made this edition one of the best in the history.

However, one aspect of the competition that has remained unchanged since its inception is that the teams that play well at home are very successful. This statement holds true as the highest percentage of home wins recorded in the IPL are by the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings. These are the most successful teams in IPL history.

However, there are teams for whom the home advantage hasn't materialized. The nature of pitches at the home grounds of these teams has, in an ironic twist, gone against them. Let us look at these 3 teams and understand why the tracks on their home turf have actually proven counter-productive.

#1 Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

RCB have depended too much on the troika of Kohli, Du Plessis, and Maxwell [Image: IPL]

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have had a mixed start to their Tata IPL 2023 campaign, winning 4 out of their first eight games. The side has played 6 out of their first 8 games in the competition at home due to the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections.

Out of these 6 games, the side has won 3. The record might not look bad but the Chinaswamy wicket in Bangalore has been a batters' paradise with a total of 200+ being a bare necessity.

However, the struggles of the RCB batting line-up beyond Virat Kohli, Faf Du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell have meant that RCB often collapse after a good start. This leads to them falling short of the opposition's target or the 200-run mark while batting first.

This weakness has been visible in RCB's performances against the Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings, and the Rajasthan Royals.

#2 Kolkata Knight Riders

The Kolkata Knight Riders have three excellent spinners in Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, and Suyash Sharma. They have historically been heavily reliant on their tweakers to deliver the goods for them. However, the current pitches at the Eden Gardens are pacy with excellent bounce and are, overall, great for batting.

KKR have won just 1 out of their 3 games at home. In all these games, at least one of the two teams has crossed 200. The only match that KKR has won at home this season, till now, has been against RCB when their spinners picked up nine wickets. The pitch in this game offered some slowness and turn.

However, the Eden Gardens pitches have largely offered no turn to the KKR spinners and the ball has come on nicely to the bat. This has resulted in a poor record at home for the two-time former champions, exacerbated by some massive defeats.

#3 Mumbai Indians

Mumbai haven't looked like the force they used to be [Image: IPL]

Like KKR, MI have won just 1 out of their first 3 games at home. Traditionally, MI have had an excellent bowling attack, comprising the likes of Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan, etc.

However, since the mega-auction before IPL 2022, MI lost the bulk of their golden side. With Bumrah injured and all the other bowlers either retired or playing for other franchises, MI are struggling with their bowling attack.

The Wankhede Stadium is known to be a batters' dream stadium with 200+ scores being a routine. However, the weak MI bowling attack has been taken to the cleaners in all their three games at home.

This trend was most notably visible when MI played against PBKS recently with the visitors' posting a total of 214/8, batting first. Thus, MI's fortress which historically worked wonders for them is now becoming a vulnerable citadel for the team.