Pune is set to lose their two playoff matches in the ongoing IPL 2018. According to a BCCI official, Lucknow is the front-runner to replace those playoff games while Rajkot and Kolkata are also seeing their chances.
Initially, the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune has been selected as a neutral venue of IPL 2018 which will have to organise only the two playoff matches in this season. According to the initial schedule of IPL 2018, Pune has to organize the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 matches on May 23 and 25 respectively.
But now the situation has totally changed. At present, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is using Pune as their home venue in this season.
After playing their first home game at their original home venue MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk, Chennai), CSK has been forced to change their home venue for this season due to the present security concern in Chennai over the protest on Cauvery water issue. It means Pune has to organize CSK’s 7 home matches before the playoffs.
Now, BCCI is thinking to shift Pune’s two playoff games in this season. The BCCI officials believe that Ekhana International Cricket Stadium, Lucknow will be the great replacement of Pune for playoff round as it has around 50,000 sitting capacity for spectators, the second largest sitting capacity cricket stadium in India after Eden Gardens (Kolkata).
According to the Cricketcountry, a BCCI official recently quoted, “What works in Lucknow’s favour is the huge crowd capacity (around 50,000) of the stadium in that city. However, we haven’t finalized this yet. Rajkot and Kolkata are also in the running. We’ll send an (IMG) team to Lucknow on Tuesday, and should be able to take a call later that day.”
Ekhana International Cricket Stadium is one of the new cricket stadia in India. It has not organized any IPL matches or other international cricket games yet.
While Ekhana is the front-runner to replace Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot’s Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium is also in the fight with KKR’s (Kolkata Knight Riders) home venue Eden Gardens (Kolkata). The Rajkot’s cricket stadium was the home venue of defunct IPL team Gujarat Lions.
