'There's been enough talk about the wicket. Aap logon ne bahut usko yeh kar diya hai. Toh agar main abhi kuch bolunga na, toh bawal ho jayega'
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Ajinkya Rahane was once again visibly disappointed with the nature of the Eden Gardens pitch and lamented over lack of help for spinners after the team's second loss at home.
However, the seasoned campaigner chose his words carefully when the contentious topic of 'home advantage' was brought up, saying any comment from him could trigger a "bawal" (controversy).
On a night when spin was expected to play a crucial role, Lucknow Super Giants edged past the defending champions by four runs, handing Rahane's KKR their second loss in three home games this season.
"Firstly, there was no help for the spinners, let me clear that," Rahane said after the game.
LSG posted 238/3 before limiting KKR to 234/7. Rahane's decision to bowl seemingly backfired as the rival batters outsmarted KKR's plans, scoring runs to the longer side of the ground.
"They used the boundary really well, you know, bowling to the longer end, I mean longer boundary, they did that really well, our bowlers tried as well, but again, (Nicholas) Pooran and Mitchell Marsh batted really well in between, they took their chances which came off really well for them."
"It was a lovely wicket, we all saw that, scoring almost 500 runs on this track, hard for the bowlers, but again, they used the conditions and used the boundary really well."
While the LSG spin duo of Digvesh Rathi and Ravi Bishnoi went for 80 runs from their eight overs combined but managed to pick two crucial wickets, their KKR counterparts -- Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy -- returned wicketless, conceding over nine runs per over.
Narine, in fact, didn't even complete his full quota of four overs.
This prompted the inevitable question: does 'home advantage' even exist in the IPL anymore?
"See, there's been enough talk about the wicket. Aap logon ne bahut usko yeh kar diya hai. Toh agar main abhi kuch bolunga na, toh bawal ho jayega. (You people have already hyped it up a lot. So if I say anything now, it will create a big controversy)," Rahane said with a wry smile.
When pressed further, he took a veiled attack on the curator Sujan Mukherjee who had earlier said he does not pay heed to any home team requests.
"Jo hamare curator hai, unko bahut publicity mila. I think he's happy with that publicity. Home advantage ke baare mein aapko jo likhna hai, aap likh sakto, jo laga. (Our curator has got a lot of publicity. I think he's happy with that publicity. You can write whatever you feel like about the home advantage)."
"If I have any concern, I would probably convey it to the IPL rather than speaking about it here."
Several franchises this season have voiced concerns over the absence of a typical 'home' advantage, with Lucknow Super Giants joining KKR and Chennai Super Kings in expressing frustration over pitch conditions.
Even LSG mentor Zaheer Khan, in a lighter vein, joked after their game against Punjab Kings that it seemed like "Punjab (Kings) curator" had prepared the Ekana wicket."
As for his own game and the possibility of an India comeback, Rahane preferred to stay grounded.
"I'm really enjoying my cricket at the moment, firstly playing for KKR and playing at the Eden. For me, it's all about staying in the moment, enjoying my cricket, enjoying my batting, and that's it.
"I don't want to think far too ahead," said the 36-year-old, who last played for India in 2023.
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