As massive protests were witnessed on Tuesday night during the Indian Premier league (IPl) match between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the IPl franchisee was told to consider shifting base due to the Cauvery water dispute, Committee of Administrator (CoA) chief Vinod Rai said on Wednesday. late at night, the BCCI took a decision to shift CSK’s remaining home games to Pune.
The Board had earlier short-listed four cities to host CSK’s home matches.
But, Pune emerged out to be the winner. The other three cities were Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram and Rajkot.
There were already calls by various groups not to host cricket matches in the city when the State was facing such a grave situation.
“We are thinking on the lines of shifting the IPl matches from Chennai. There are four alternative venues that BCCI has kept ready. They are Visakhapatnam, Trivandrum, Pune and Rajkot. CSK can play their matches at these venues,” Rai told PTI.
“We have to keep in mind the prevailing political and security situation in the State. But we have told the CSK franchisee to evaluate the current situation and take a final call in this regard. It will be CSK’s decision,” Rai said earlier.
According to information received, CSK CEO Kashi Vishwanathan is speaking to police authorities and trying to take a stock of the situation. “There are a lot of options that we are mulling. There is a possibility that our next home match on April 20 against Rajasthan Royals will be an away match in Jaipur. In the meantime, we can decide upon a substitute venue. There are a lot of things that comes under consideration. Ticketing, marketing, entire logistical movements, in stadia. Hopefully, a call will be taken tomorrow,” a CSK insider had said earlier.
IPl’s most popular franchise CSK has made a comeback to the league after serving two-year suspension on charges of spot-fixing in 2013.
IPl sources said Visakhapatnam is likely to be picked by the CSK management due to logistical reasons. However, CSK are not playing a home match before April 20 and situation may get better before the clash against Rajasthan Royals.
IPl chairman Rajeev Shukla had also spoken to the Union Home Secretary on Tuesday, seeking government intervention in smooth conduct of IPl matches in Chennai.