The defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, hosted the Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden Gardens on the evening of Monday, April 21.
While the game proceeded as usual, Harsha Bhogle was missing in the commentary box, which led to the question as to whether he had been denied entry to the iconic stadium.
Ahead of the game, reports of Harsha Bhogle and Simon Doull being banned from Eden Gardens had been circulating with reason being their criticism of the Eden Gardens pitch not sitting well with the CAB authorities.
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However, a day after the match, Bhogle issued a clarification on the matter, denying any speculations of a ban. See what he had to say.
Is Harsha Bhogle banned from Eden Gardens matches?
Bhogle took it to Twitter (X) and wrote about how the commentary rosters for every match are set before the tournament, and the reason for his absence in the game between KKR and GT.
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"There are some inappropriate conclusions being drawn about why I wasn't at yesterday's game in Kolkata. Quite simply, it wasn't on the list of matches I was down to do! Asking me would have resolved the issue. Rosters are done before the tournament starts. I was rostered for two games in Kolkata. I was there for the first, and an illness in the family prevented me from being at the 2nd," wrote Harsha.
Bhogle made the public statement after reports had gone viral, which claimed that he along with Doull could be banned from commentating in KKR's home matches.
See the tweet below:
There are some inappropriate conclusions being drawn about why I wasn't at yesterday's game in Kolkata. Quite simply, it wasn't on the list of matches I was down to do! Asking me would have resolved the issue. Rosters are done before the tournament starts. I was rostered for two…
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 22, 2025
Why did Harsha Bhogle and Simon Doull criticise the Eden Gardens pitch?
During a discussion with Cricbuzz, the duo spoke about the recent struggles of KKR at home as they have not been getting the pitch they want due to the stubbornness of the curator.
“If he’s not taking heed of what the home team wants… then just move the franchise away to somewhere else. His job is not to pass an opinion on the game. That’s not what he’s paid for,” Doull emphasized.
Harsha, who was on the same panel, agreed with Doull's criticism of the Eden pitch curator, saying:
“If they are playing at home, (they) should get the tracks that they think are suited for their bowlers,” Bhogle said.
With two of the best spinners in the league in Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, KKR would have ideally preferred wickets with some assistance to their slower bowlers.
However, the curator has previously refused to work on the franchise's suggestions while providing pitches that are on the flat side, which aids batting rather than spin bowling, which is KKR's strength.