India, March 30 -- Sujan Mukherjee, a pitch curator at Eden Gardens, on Monday, ended his silence on receiving backlash after denying Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane's request to prepare a spin-friendly track for the IPL 2025 season opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Sujan quoted the BCCI rules as he took a dig at former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull, who told KKR to find a new home.

KKR management was reportedly unhappy that Sujan refused to provide them with a surface on which their main weapon, Varun Chakaravarthy, was clobbered for 43 runs in four overs in the match against RCB.

Speaking to RevSportz, Sujan admitted the criticism hurt, but maintained that while the pitch offered spin, KKR failed...