KXIP announce Dharamsala as venue, leaves BCCI, HPCA confused

There seems to be no end to confusion with regards to shifting of Kings XI Punjab's three IPL home matches after the franchise issued an official statement naming Dharamsala as their second home venue.

Conflicting reports emerged when highly-placed sources in the BCCI were contacted, a few hours after KIXP's announcement.

"It is weird but we are left a little confused after we heard that Kings XI Punjab had issued a statement naming Dharamsala as their home ground. It is a bit confusing as there seems to be distinct lack of communication at their end," a top BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

It has become even more intriguing as a HPCA spokesperson said that despite KXIP's announcement, they are not sure whether the match would take place or not.

"After the manner in which the venue lost the Pakistan match in the World T20, we are wary about the politics being played by the state government as the Himachal Pradesh CA president Anurag Thakur is a BJP MP," the HPCA spokesperson said after KXIP issued the statement.

It has been learnt that one of their promoters had told the top brass of BCCI that they would like to host all their matches at Mohali as it is cost-effective and choosing Dharamsala has now sent conflicting signals.

"We are happy to announce that Kings XI Punjab will be playing our 3 home games in Dharamshala. We are grateful and thankful to Anurag Thakur and the HPCA for their support in helping us make this transition seamless at such short notice," KXIP had earlier said in a statement.

When they were specifically asked if they had issued the statement after consulting with the BCCI, sources close to the KXIP management could not give a definitive answer.

However, they maintained that all promoters are on same page regarding the shift of venue.