2 min readMar 18, 2026 03:38 PM IST
Former South Africa captain Faf Du Plessis urged Kolkata Knight Riders to build their campaign around spin, particularly due to the pair of ace spinners they have in their ranks in Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine. Du Plessis said that KKR should be asking for spinning tracks at the Eden Gardens; the franchise had publicly voiced their displeasure at the conditions that were on offer for them at their home ground last season.
Du Plessis pointed out that the nature of their pitches at home games can have a big impact on KKR’s performance this season. “If I was part of the KKR team management, I would ask the groundsman to make the wicket spin-friendly. KKR are blessed to have two absolute cannons in Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. They are two of the best T20 spinners in the game right now,” he said on JioHotstar.
“Both, Varun and Narine, have to be in the game. If they play on surfaces where they are not in contention, then you are losing those two cannons and your superpower. Yes, they can bowl well on any wicket, but for KKR to be successful this IPL, they need to fire. The pitch should be prepared keeping those two players in mind,” he added.
Chakaravarthy will be looking to bounce back from his disappointing performance during India’s title-winning T20 World Cup campaign, where he took 14 wickets at an an economy of over nine runs. KKR finished fifth in the 2025 season, winning only five out of 14 matches. Captain Ajinkya Rahane had shown concerns regarding the pitch not favouring spinners at Eden Gardens last season. “We’d love to see the pitch helping the spin bowlers,” Rahane had said after defeat against RCB at Eden Gardens last year. With KKR opening against Mumbai Indians on March 29, pitch conditions could again shape their gameplan.
