"Don't want the game to be too lopsided" - Former RCB coach's big take on home advantage amid IPL 2025
Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Team India head coach Sanjay Bangar has backed the BCCI's intervention and oversight when it comes to the pitch preparation in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL). A number of teams, including the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS) have lamented the lack of home advantage due to not availing pitches of their desire in their recent home games.
Eden Gardens curator Sujan Mukherjee recently claimed that the pitch preparation directives come from the BCCI and not the franchise using the venue as their home ground. KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane had highlighted the lack of help for the spinners from the surface.
LSG mentor Zaheer Khan also complained about the pitch after the loss to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their first home match of the season at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Amid the uproar, Bangar feels that curators cannot blindly comply with what franchises ask for because then the pitches will overwhelmingly support the home side. As a result, he feels that BCCI's input is necessary as they bring an objective set of eyes to the situation.
“I think BCCI would still like to have a little bit of control over it and maintain the characteristics of a particular surface," Bangar said on ESPN Cricinfo (via Hindustan Times)
"If you totally give it to the hands of the franchise, you do not really want the game to be too lopsided as well, so I'm of the opinion [of having] a little bit of uniformity wherein not having too much of a say for the home side, still there is enough variety in terms of the vast nature of our country wherein cricket is played all across the nation, in itself has variations in terms of red soil, black soil and all of that. I'm of the opinion that a little bit of direction or guideline is always better,” Bangar added.
Home sides have won exactly half of the matches to have been played in IPL 2025 so far.
"Practically impossible to do that" - Sanjay Bangar highlights lack of pitch variety at RCB's home ground
RCB slumped to an eight-wicket defeat in their first home game of the season at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. After kickstarting their season with two monumental away wins, RCB were put into bat first and made 169-8 after being reduced to 42-4 at one stage.
Bangar, who was in the RCB coaching group for three seasons, noted how the Chinnaswamy Stadium's small dimensions only leads to a couple of pitches that can be used.
“In RCB, Chinnaswamy, there are only two pitches on which you can play games because of the size of the ground, and generally, you can't have a lot of variation [between] those two surfaces because it is practically impossible to do that,” Bangar said.
RCB have struggled to make their home ground a fortress. They have lost four out of the last eight matches at the venue, including three on the trot in the 2024 season.