Kolkata ties shifted
Royal Challengers Bangalore will now play all their Champions League Group B matches at their beloved Chinnaswamy stadium after Kolkata forfeited their right to host their share of four matches in this year’s competition due to inclement weather.
RCB’s lone ‘away’ match, against an yet to be decided qualifier on September 29, will now take play at the Chinnaswamy stadium. The other three matches originally at the Eden Gardens – the double-header on September 25 and a night game on September 27 – have been moved to the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium here.
A release said the changes made by the Governing Council on Tuesday were pending approval from local authorities. Hyderabad Cricket Association president Arshad Ayub told Deccan Herald that the HCA was prepared to host the three additional matches. “We are just awaiting security clearance, which is always a key component,” the former India off-spinner added. “We expect to hear from the officials concerned by tomorrow.”
The shift out of the Eden was formalised after a meeting between officials of the Cricket Association of Bengal and the Champions League, necessitated by the heavy rains that have hampered preparations in Kolkata.
“With regret and in the best interests of the tournament, CAB and CLT20 have reluctantly agreed to moving the matches away from Eden Gardens due to heavy rains,” CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya said. “We're disappointed we're not able to host the matches, but this decision was unavoidable and taken out of our hands due to the current weather conditions.”
