Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, and Punjab Kings have formally raised objections for the BCCI leaving out the three venues from their roster for the IPL 2021 while including Ahmedabad which is not a host city. The franchises complained that lack of home advantage will be a concern for them.
With IPL 2021 less than six weeks away from commencement, recently the BCCI decided that the tournament will be staged in a cluster-caravan format in six cities – Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi, and Ahmedabad with Mumbai as another yet-to-be-decided option. Ahmedabad might possibly host the play-off stage as well as the final but it has now created a fresh controversy with Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad raising objections to their home venues being excluded from the list.
“We three teams will be badly affected. The teams doing well are the ones who do well at home, win five or six home games and a few away, and that will take you through to the play-offs. Those five teams (Royals Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians) will have the home advantage, we will have to put up with all away game,” a franchise official told Cricbuzz.
The website reported that the three franchises have taken the matter to the BCCI CEO Hemang Amin separately and might lodge a collective protest against the idea. The franchises noted that the states that are organizing the matches are either going through the second wave of Covid-19 or elections as it is in West Bengal. Meanwhile, Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao, son of the state’s chief minister, offered support to the matches in Hyderabad.
“Open appeal to @BCCI and @IPL office bearers to include Hyderabad as one of the venues for upcoming IPL season. Our effective COVID containment measures are reflected in our low number of cases among all metro cities in India & we assure you of all support from the Govt (sic),” Rao said in a social media post.