Amid two days left for the 18th season of Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 to begin, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Ganguly on Thursday informed that Kolkata Knight Riders’ Eden Garden game against Lucknow Super Giants on April 6 is set to be shifted to Guwahati.
According to a report by PTI, the reason for his change in the place of clash between KKR and LSG is lack of security arrangements due to ‘Ram Navami’ celebrations in the city on the day.
Not only this, the city police has expressed its inability to provide security for the IPL contest, said CAB president Snehasish Ganguly.
“We have informed the BCCI to reschedule the match, but there is no scope for rescheduling the game in the city later and I’m now hearing that it’s going to be shifted to Guwahati,” Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President Ganguly told PTI.
Earlier, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari had announced that over 20,000 processions are being organised across West Bengal to celebrate the festival.
As both KKR and LSG boast strong local support, the clash was expected to draw a packed house. Though an official statement from the IPL however is yet to arrive.
In 2024 too, the IPL fixture between KKR and Rajasthan Royals had to be rescheduled due to lack of security arrangements on Ram Navami.
“I had several rounds of talks with the Kolkata Police and they said they won’t be able to provide enough security on that day,” Snehasish added.
“If there’s no police protection, accommodating and managing a 65,000-strong crowd becomes impossible,” Snehasish had said on Tuesday.
As per the IPL 2025 schedule, the KKR vs LSG clash would be Kolkata’s fifth match. Before that, Shah Rukh Khan’s team will lock horns with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), RR, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
