KKR curator row: Bhogle, Doull barred from Eden Gardens

Taking a strong exception to pubic criticism of their curator by Harsha Bhogle and Simon Doull, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has red flagged the two cricket experts and requested the BCCI not to assign them commentary duty for Kolkata Knight Riders home matches at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Bhogle and Doull got embroiled in the controversy when the former New Zealand cricketer opined that KKR should relocate their franchisee if the curator was not paying any heed to team's request for spin-friendly tracks while Bhogle said the team should get the home advantage.

This was during a panel discussion on a popular website after KKR lost two of their first three home games.

Infuriated by their comments, CAB secretary Naresh Ojha wrote to the BCCI nearly 10 days ago, requesting the removal of Bhogle and Doull from the commentary panel for their home games in Kolkata.

Interestingly, during Monday's game between KKR and Gujarat Titans neither Bhogle nor Doull was on commentary duty.

However, sources close to Bhogle said the renowned commentator was not slotted for any KKR game.

It could not be confirmed if the commentary roster was set before or after CAB's formal complaint.

"Bhogle and Doull are no longer part of the IPL commentary team for KKR's home matches. However, the situation might change when Eden hosts the Qualifier 2 and the Final on May 23 and 25," a CAB official told PTI.

Ojha

and CAB president Snehasish Ganguly were not available for a comment.

Both KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane and head coach Chandrakant Pandit had expressed disappointment over not getting the expected spin-friendly conditions.

Following KKR's defeat to Lucknow Super Giants in a high-scoring game, where LSG posted 238/3 and restricted KKR to 234/7, Rahane appeared frustrated when asked about the pitch at the post-match press conference.

"There was no help for the spinners, let me make that clear," he said, adding that further remarks from him could create a "bawal" (controversy).

During an expert panel discussion, Doull suggested that the franchise consider relocation if their requests regarding the pitch were not met.

"If he (the curator) is not taking heed of what the home team wants... they are paying the stadium fees, they are paying for what's going on in the IPL. If he's still not listening, then just move the franchise away. His job is not to pass an opinion on the game. That's not what he's paid for," Doull had said.

Bhogle echoed similar sentiments: “If they are playing at home, they should get the kind of tracks that suit their bowlers. I saw something about what the KKR curator has said."

The CAB, however, stood firmly behind its curator Sujan Mukherjee, maintaining that he has followed the BCCI guidelines, which state that no franchise can influence or dictate the nature of the pitch at a venue.

The KKR think-tank had reportedly requested a more spin-friendly surface to support the likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Moeen Ali.

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