Modi clarifies that the champions Rajasthan Royals will get to play in their home town.
You can, well, call it a curious case of the Rajasthan Cricket Association and its Royals. The change of power at the RCA has led to speculations that Jaipur may not see Indian Premier League this year. The shifting of inaugural from the Pink City to Mumbai have further fuelled speculations that Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals may not play a single match in their home town. But all that may not be true, after all.
Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, categorically stated that there would be matches in his home state. “There will be in Jaipur, of course,” the IPL chairman. “One need not go by the speculations in the media.”
Modi, however, said he was not in a position to state how many matches will Jaipur get to host. “It is too early to say. We are working out the revised schedule. It is a cumbersome process. We will come out with the schedule soon.” Originally, Jaipur was allotted six matches. But the number of matches in the revised schedule will depend on the security assurance from the state home and police departments. Sources in the IPL and the RCA say the matches could be be between four and six.
Modi’s statement has considerable significance as he had lost the recent election in the RCA and there were reports that the IPL chairman would shift the matches out of Jaipur.
DNA has learnt that the RCA signed a hosting association agreement with the IPL on Saturday. “We signed on the dotted lines. That makes us believe that we will get to host matches. But how many matches we will host will depend on the IPL board and the inputs of the state home and police department,” an RCA official said.
Meanwhile, Modi said Dharamshala may get to host a few matches. “We are in the process of finalizing the venues. Some new centres have come forward to host matches. We are considering the offers.” If allotted, the Himachal city may get the home matches of Kings XI Punjab.
The Dharamshala stadium doesn’t have lights but a spokesman for the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association said the process of installing lights at the venue will be complete in about a month.
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