IPL final to stay in Bangalore, despite MCA plea

Mumbai Cricket Association's promise to comply with all the conditions notwithstanding, the Indian Premier League's Governing Council has decided that the June 1 final of the T20 tournament would be held in Bangalore as announced earlier. 

"The GC had a conference call last night and after a lot  of deliberation among the members it was unanimously decided to stick to our earlier decision, that is to play the final in  Bangalore," BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel told PTI from Baroda on Sunday morning.

"One of the main reasons is we don't have time till Monday (tomorrow) or Tuesday as a lot of preparations are needed to hold it," said Patel. 

Other BCCI sources indicated that though MCA had written to the IPL GC that it would meet all the demands, a written permission from Mumbai police to allow bursting of fire crackers past 10 pm was not provided. MCA secretary Nitin Dalal told PTI that this permission
would have been obtained in the coming week.

"We had accepted all the demands. (Sharad) Pawar saheb would have got this permission this week," said Dalal, who said he was not aware of the IPL GC's decision to keep the final in Bangalore. Mumbai Indians are to play two home games at Wankhede on May 23 and 25 while Qualifier 2 on May 30 is also scheduled there. 

The Eliminator game of May 28 is to be held at the nearby Cricket Club of India's Brabourne Stadium. 

MCA had on Thursday said it was even ready to lift the ban on the entry of Bollywood star and Kolkata Knight Riders' owner Shah Rukh Khan into the Wankhede stadium if the final is shifted back, as per the conditions. 

Shah Rukh was banned from the Wankhede for five years in 2012 following an ugly spat with MCA officials and security personnel. MCA vice president Ravi Savant had said the actor would be allowed into the stadium only for the final and not any other game. Savant had said that MCA had accepted all the 14 demands put forward by the IPL's governing council to stage the match. 

"We had received a letter from IPL chairman Ranjib  Biswal, dated May 13, and there were as many as 14 conditions. We have decided to accept all the conditions because the MCA president (Sharad Pawar) desired that the match should be played in Mumbai only and we hope that our decision will change the heart of the governing council and the match will be played in Mumbai," Savant had said.

Image: Rohit Sharma

Photo: BCCI