Who is Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee? 5 interesting facts about the former Bengal cricketer
Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee has been trending on social media because of his recent comments. Mukherjee said that he does not take the inputs from home team Kolkata Knight Riders while preparing the surface for their games in Kolkata but instead prepares the deck that he prefers to have.
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane and the rest of the team management asked the Eden Gardens pitch curator to prepare a wicket that assists spin. However, he laid out a flat wicket for the team's first match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL 2025.
The same happened in 2023, where KKR's former Nitish Rana said that every team has home advantage in IPL except the Knight Riders. Commentator Simon Doull lashed out at pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee, saying that KKR can demand the wicket they want because they pay the stadium fees. Doull even suggested KKR shift their home base.
Since Mukherjee has become a trending topic, here's a look at five interesting things to know about the Eden Gardens pitch curator.
#1 Sujan Mukherjee is a former cricketer
Not many fans would know that Mukherjee is a former domestic-level cricketer. He played 12 first-class matches and two List-A games for Bengal during his domestic cricket career.
Interestingly, Mukherjee was a spin bowler himself. He bagged 18 wickets in 12 first-class games during his career which lasted from 1980 to 1986.
#2 Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee is a local boy
Sujan was born in Kolkata on February 10, 1955. The pitch curator recently turned 70 and still continues to work hard to prepare pitches at the Eden Gardens for IPL and international matches. As mentioned ahead, Sujan also played for the Bengal team in domestic cricket.
#3 Sujan Mukherjee got a government job because of cricket
Back in 2023, Sportskeeda Cricket's YouTube channel prepared a special video about Sujan, who has been the unsung hero of Bengal cricket. During that clip, Sujan said that his life has always revolved around cricket and he even landed a government job because of the sport.
"I was a cricketer before and I have played for Bengal. Because of cricket, I got a job with the customs office," he said.
The customs office is the government department responsible for ensuring compliance with trade, customs, and tax regulations and was a great opportunity for Sujan.
#4 Jagmohan Dalmiya gave Sujan the 1st chance
During the same chat, Sujan disclosed that former BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya gave him the first opportunity to work as a pitch curator. He worked as a curator at the Kalyani University Campus, a venue that was used for district-level matches in West Bengal.
Sujan did a great job as a curator, which started his journey to becoming the Eden Gardens pitch curator one day.
#5 Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan won 3 best ground awards from 2016 to 2022
Sujan got a chance to work at Eden Gardens when Sourav Ganguly asked him to visit the venue after a match between India and South Africa was abandoned there in 2015. He started working as a curator soon and helped Eden Gardens win the best ground award thrice from the award.
In fact, in IPL 2018, the BCCI awarded the Eden Gardens for the best ground as well. He mentioned that to prepare a good pitch, he sticks to the basics, which is good grass cover, good soil and regular supervision.