Sport - Cricket

IPL final shifted to D.Y. Patil Stadium

Mumbai: The DLF-Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers have shifted the June 1 final from the originally scheduled Wankhede Stadium to the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai for a variety of reasons, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sources said on Sunday.

“The final has been shifted and will now be held at D.Y. Patil Stadium. One of the main reasons is that the TV production crew is not happy with the makeshift arrangements at the Wankhede Stadium which has already been taken up for renovation and there is space constraint for keeping their equipment,” sources said.

The arrangements for the TV production crew include temporary location of their vast paraphernalia adjacent to the makeshift restaurant located just behind the Garware stands, sources added.

Another reason is that the D.Y. Patil Stadium can hold 55,000 spectators as compared to 40,000 by Wankhede.

But the decision has not yet been communicated to the franchise owners of Mumbai Indians, the home team, by the IPL authorities who make the final call though the team owners have a say on the matter, said a spokesperson of the franchisee.

The May 14 and 16 home ties of Mumbai Indians, against Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively, and slated to be held in the Navi Mumbai venue, are to be held at the Wankhede Stadium instead of the originally scheduled D.Y. Patil Stadium.

Reasons given when these matches were shifted included the reluctance of the teams to travel long distances from their hotel in Central Mumbai to D.Y. Patil Stadium and the lack of proper practice wickets at the Navi Mumbai venue. — PTI

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