Punjab CM surprised at Mohali's exclusion for IPL, urge BCCI to reconsider

Shruti Banerjee

Shruti Banerjee
প্রকাশের তারিখ: 17:00 মঙ্গলবার, 02 মার্চ, 2021

|| India Correspondent ||

As the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League will take place in April, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) decided on six venues to host the entire tournament - Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. However, that didn't go down well with three IPL franchises - Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. And now, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has also opened up on this matter.

He revealed that he was surprised with the decision of Mohali's exclusion as one of the venues for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL). However, he also asked the BCCI to reconsider the decision as he believes Mohali can host the cash-rich T20 league quite well with all safety precautions intact.

"I am surprised at the exclusion of Mohali Cricket Stadium for the upcoming IPL season. I urge and appeal to @BCCI & @IPL to reconsider their decision. There is no reason why Mohali can't host IPL and our Government will make all necessary arrangements for safety against #Covid19," Captain Amarinder Singh took to Twitter and shared.

Earlier, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) working president KT Rama Rao has shared his views and appealed to the BCCI and IPL office bearers to add Hyderabad as one of the host cities for the upcoming edition of the league. "Open appeal to @BCCI and @IPL office bearers to include Hyderabad as one of the venues for upcoming IPL season. Our effective COVID containment measures are reflected in our low number of cases among all metro cities in India & we assure you of all support from the Govt," Rao shared this in a tweet.

After his appeal, former India captain and current president of Hyderabad Cricket Association, Mohammed Azharuddin has also supported him and expressed that Hyderabad is capable enough to host the upcoming edition of IPL that too in a bio-secure bubble.

"I strongly support the appeal by @ktrtrs. Hyderabad is absolutely capable of handling and conducting @IPL as per @BCCI's directives and preparing a bio-secure bubble," Azharuddin tweeted.

As Kolkata is expected to get the games at the last leg of the league due to the election in West Bengal, Maharashtra is currently facing issues with the recent rise of COVID-19 cases, especially in Mumbai and Pune. However, the final decision on this is likely to be taken soon as well.