Kolkata Knight Riders’ player Varun Chakravarthy bowls during a training session ahead of the IPL 2025 cricket tournament, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, West Bengal on March 20, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) home game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 6 is set to be shifted to Guwahati as police has expressed its inability to provide security for the IPL contest due to ‘Ram Navami’ celebrations in the city on the day, Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Snehasish Ganguly told PTI on Thursday (March 20, 2025).
BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari had announced that over 20,000 processions are being organised across West Bengal to celebrate the festival.
“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.
The clash between KKR and LSG, owned by RPSG Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka, was expected to draw a packed house, with both teams boasting strong local support.
An official statement from the IPL however is yet to arrive.
In season 2024 also, the IPL fixture between KKR and Rajasthan Royals (RR) 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,” Mr. Snehasish added.
“If there’s no police protection, accommodating and managing a 65,000-strong crowd becomes impossible,” Mr. Snehasish had said on Tuesday (March 17, 2025).
Published – March 20, 2025 09:11 pm IST