The meeting between the new BCCI officials and the owners of the eight Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises concluded on Tuesday in the Mumbai headquarters. At the meeting, the decision was finalized to add three new cities namely Lucknow, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram which will be hosting some of the matches of the IPL 2020.
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) are the two IPL franchises who generally host some of their home matches outside their fortresses. Every year, 2 to 3 out of their home matches are played at the alternate home venue. For the 2020 IPL, Rajasthan wanted to change their second home venue to Guwahati from Ahmedabad whereas Punjab wanted Lucknow as their alternate home venue.
As per the quotes in Outlook India, an official said, “Rajasthan has requested a change of their second home from Ahmedabad to Guwahati and while the GC is okay with the move, IMG will now conduct an inspection at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium before giving the green signal.”
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The BCCI official further elaborated, “As for Lucknow, KXIP have been looking to move to the city since the last edition and had even sent in a request. But polls had played a major role in causing a delay in the shift. But thanks to the great review of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium after the India-West Indies game, the venue is now almost certain to become Punjab’s second home. They earlier played their games at the I.S. Bindra Stadium in Mohali and also used the Holkar Stadium in Indore as their second home.”
Rajasthan had profit share issues with their current home stadiums and that’s one of the two reasons why they were looking for a shift to Guwahati. The other reason was a bit obvious that Guwahati Cricket Association was also very keen to be part of the IPL. As far as Thiruvananthapuram is concerned, the reviews of the Greenfield International Stadium are outstanding and there are crazy cricket fans in Kerala who are crazy about the game.
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In the other news related to IPL franchises, Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Delhi Capitals (DC) are all keen to play international friendlies with the other cricket clubs around the world. Rajasthan are the new entrants to join the above mentioned four franchises to give a positive nod to this concept.
