Kolkata Municipal elections prompt IPl schedule rejig
New Delhi: The Indian Premier league’s Kolkata schedule has been slightly rejigged owing to the Municipal elections in the city with the organisers deciding to shift KKR’s April 12 to 25 home matches following a request from the police there. "There will be no ‘home’ matches of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens from 12 April 2015 to 25 April 2015, as per the revised schedule. In all, the dates of three matches and timings of two other matches have been changed," BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur said in a statement. As per the revised schedule, the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, which was to be played at 8 pm on April 14, has been shifted to April 30 (8 pm). The match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils, which was to be played at 8 pm on April 28, has been shifted to May 7 (8 pm). The match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, which was to be played at 8 pm on April 30, has been shifted to April 28 (8 pm). The 4 pm game between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians at Ahmedabad, on April 14, will now be played at 8 pm. The 8 pm game between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai on May 7, will now be played at 4 pm.
Injured KKR players’ Neesham, lynn ruled out IPl
New Delhi: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders will not have the services of New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham and Australian cricketer Chris lynn for this IPl season. Neesham, who was bought at this year’s auction, and lynn retained from last year have both been ruled out based on the injury reports received from their respective boards, said a BCCI release. IPl regulations permit replacement if a player is unavailable for the entire season. KKR have opted to replace the injured players with the experienced duo of Azhar Mahmood, former Pakistan Test Cricketer who is currently based in England playing for Surrey and Johan Botha, former Proteas captain and currently playing for Adelaide Strikers at the Big Bash. IPl is happy to welcome these experienced campaigners as KKR take on Mumbai Indians in the opening encounter on April 8.