The MCA Stadium, Pune will not be hosting the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 of the IPL 2018 anymore. Rajiv Shukla, chairman of the IPL Governing Council has confirmed that the matches will now be played at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.  At present, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is using Pune as their home venue in this season. Now Kolkata will host the Eliminator and Qualifier 2 matches on May 23 and 25 respectively.

The new of Pune losing their two playoff matches in the ongoing IPL 2018 was broken up on 23rd April. According to a BCCI official, Lucknow was the front-runner to replace those playoff games while Rajkot and Kolkata were also in contention. Eden Gardens, Kolkata has now emerged the final confirmed choice.

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Initially, the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune had been selected as a neutral venue of IPL 2018 which previously had to organize only the two playoff matches in this season with its home team Rising Pune Supergiants now defunct. Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune was then allotted the home matches of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after the Cauvery Water Dispute (CWD) issue which forced their home matches to be shifted out of the Chepauk.

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The decision is likely to be influenced by the low seating capacity of the MCA Stadium, Pune. While Pune can host 30,000 spectators, Kolkata can accommodate around 61,000 viewers. Also, the Pune stadium is very far from the city and that its own logistical issues. All these issues have tilted in Kolkata’s favor.