The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly received a letter from the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) asking that famous commentators Simon Doull and Harsha Bhogle be barred from covering any IPL 2025 matches at Eden Gardens for the rest of the season. Following the pair’s public criticism of Eden Gardens pitch curator Sujan Mukherjee, the development occurred.
The incident began when Bhogle and Doull made comments regarding Eden Gardens’ pitch conditions and curator Mukherjee’s involvement in their preparation. In order to aid its spinners, such as Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, the home team, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), requested spin-friendly tracks. However, Mukherjee chose not to take the request into consideration and followed the BCCI’s rules for pitch preparation. Then Doull said that KKR should think about leaving Kolkata completely if the curator continued to be stubborn.
But CAB didn’t see the remark favourably, thinking Mukherjee had been unfairly singled out.
Mukherjee has been operating solely in accordance with the BCCI rule book, which explicitly specifies that the host association and the venue curator selected by the BCCI, not the franchises or commentators, are responsible for pitch and ground preparation, according to association sources. Mukherjee had addressed the criticism directed against him.
“I don’t need to worry about what Simon Doull or Harsha Bhogle stated. In an interview with, he stated, “I care about what the fans and my association think about the wicket.
“I have to provide the BCCI with a nice sporting wicket. It is explicitly stated in the BCCI guidelines that the chief curator of the host association, working under the direction of the BCCI-appointed venue curator, is in charge of preparing the pitch and ground for all IPL regular season matches. They will also be the only ones to decide which practice and match pitches to use, just like in India for first-class matches. Additionally, it is mandated that players and franchises have no input into the wicket preparation process. In addition to provide any necessary guidance, the BCCI head curator is ready to step in and resolve any problems that may come up,” he said.
Bhogle and Doull will not be on the commentary panel for Monday’s encounter between KKR and Gujarat Titans, despite the fact that the BCCI has not yet formally replied to CAB’s request. Given that Eden Gardens will also host the Qualifier 2 on May 23 and the IPL final on May 25, it is still unclear if the two commentators would take the mike again for upcoming games at the storied stadium.
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