No IPL matches in Chennai, final moved to Bangalore
Monday, 12 May 2014 00:31
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Bangalore will hold the final of the IPL this season, and Kolkata will get a qualifier after the governing council announced a revamped schedule. The changes were prompted as Chennai could not host any of its four scheduled games, due to a dispute with the municipal authorities over the use of three stands at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Chennai’s two league games have been shifted to Ranchi, while Mumbai gets two of the four big games despite losing out on hosting the final.
The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s inability to host matches is due to the prolonged deadlock with the municipal corporation over the legality of the construction of three new stands and a gymnasium at the MA Chidambaram stadium. After the Supreme Court had ordered both the parties to reach an amicable settlement with regard to staging IPL matches, the TNCA authorities informed the IPL authorities late on Friday of their inability to stage the matches.
Since Ranchi had already been allotted two of Chennai Super Kings’ four home in India, the governing council members decided to maintain continuity and award the remaining two games to the JSCA International Stadium.
The rescheduling of the final has been a result of apparent mismanagement at Wankhede Stadium. Some VIPs faced difficulties in parking their vehicles when Mumbai Indians hosted Kings XI Punjab on 3 May. MCA Vice-President Ravi Savant had told ESPNcricinfo that the issue had been sorted after MCA had met with BCCI-IPL interim president Sunil Gavaskar. But the governing council felt the final was too risky an occasion to take chances. Savant, also a BCCI Vice-President, declined to comment on whether Wankhede losing the final was unfair. “Let our managing committee decide during its next meeting,” he said.
Cricket Club of India, custodians of the Brabourne Stadium, were rewarded for their faith in the BCCI hierarchy with a play-off match. CCI is a full member of the board and is one of the 30 voting members. The BCCI had considered it for hosting the second Test of the West Indies tour last year, before Sachin Tendulkar expressed his desire to sign off from international cricket at Wankhede.
Kolkata was compensated for the 14 May game between Mumbai and Kolkata Knight Riders, which had been relocated to Cuttack since the state government authorities expressed their inability to provide security before the election counting day (16 May).
