Commentator Harsha Bhogle reacted to rumors surrounding his absence of the panel of comments during the 2025 IPL confrontation between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Gujarat Titans (GT) in Kolkata.
Harsha rejected rumors, declaring that he should only comment two games in Kolkata.
Harsha Bhogle and Simon Doull raised concerns about the Eden Gardens field. They asked why Kolkata Knight Riders did not receive adapted surfaces at home.
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In particular, Bhogle and Doull were not part of the comment team during the 2025 match IPL between KKR and Gujarat Titans on Monday.
There are inappropriate conclusions drawn – Harsha Bhogle
Harsha Bhogle revealed the reason for his absence from the Kolkata Knight Riders match. Bhogle said he had been planned to comment only two games in Eden Gardens in accordance with the pre-trip list. He was present for the first game, but missed the second due to the disease of a family member.
“There are inappropriate conclusions that are drawn from the reason why I was not in the match of yesterday in Kolkata. Quite simply, it was not on the list of matches I was doing!” Bhogle posted on “X” (formerly known as Twitter).
“Asking me would have resolved the problem. The lists were done before the start of the tournament. I was notation for two games in Kolkata. I was there for the first, and a family illness prevented me from being in the 2nd,” he added without specifying the matches.
There are inappropriate conclusions which are drawn from the reason why I was not in the match of yesterday in Kolkata. Quite simply, it was not on the list of matches I had to do! Asking me would have solved the problem. The lists are carried out before the start of the tournament. I was notary for two …
– Harsha Bhogle (@Bhogleharsha) April 22, 2025
There was no official explanation of Simon Doull concerning his absence from the match, where the Knight Riders underwent a loss of 39 points.
The controversy breaks out after Captain Kkr Ajinkya Rahane asked for locations adapted to a spin
For UNIVERSED, controversy triggered when KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane wanted the Eden gardens ground to promote the threads after a defeat against the super giants of Lucknow (LSG). However, the preservative of the field, Sujan Mukherjee, rejected the request and said that he would stick to the preparation of neutral locations.
This surprised a lot in the cricket world, while the teams make home conditions to their advantage. Simon Doull said KKR should consider moving their base if they were not satisfied on the ground in Kolkata. In particular, the Knight Riders have spinners like Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Moeen Ali.
The Bengal Cricket Association asked BCCI to withdraw Harsha Bhogle and Doull from the panel of comments
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) challenged comments from the comments made by Harsha Bhogle and Simon Doull concerning the field of Eden Gardens. In response, CAB secretary, Naresh Ojha, officially complained to the BCCI, requesting their withdrawal of the panel of comments for KKR’s home matches.
CAB defended their pitch curator, Sujan Mukherjee, adding that he had followed the directives of the BCCI, which prohibit franchises from influencing the preparation of height. The Super Giants displayed a total of 238/3, while the home team managed to score 234 for the loss of seven counters, losing the match by four points.
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