Another setback hits the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) stadium as it will miss out on hosting matches for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL). It came as a massive shock to the HPCA after the high-profile India-Pakistan World T20 match was earlier shifted to Kolkata amid various protests.
The much-awaited India-Pakistan clash was scheduled to be held at the HPCA stadium in the upcoming World T20 but due to various protests and threats from different organisations, the BCCI shifted the match to Kolkata. The security concerns of the players and the officials was the main reason for the shift.
The IPL’s Punjab-based franchise the Kings XI made Dharamsala one of its home venues a few years ago and had reportedly requested BCCI to shift its share of matches from the HPCA stadium to the VCA stadium in Nagpur. The BCCI had agreed to the proposal and thus Dharamsala is not mentioned as a venue in the latest IPL schedule.
The reason behind the Kings XI Punjab’s request was the huge amount demands of the Himachal Pradesh government to provide security to players and officials. The HP government also levies a big entertainment tax during the IPL. These two factors have played a big role in opting Nagpur as a new home venue.
The franchise will stand to gain more through gate money at the Nagpur stadium. Kings XI Punjab had mentioned these issues in a written request to the BCCI in the month of January and Dharamsala also did not host any IPL matches last year.
Cricket becomes the latest casualty in political tussle
After Dharamsala lost the IPL matches the HPCA expressed their disappointment. HPCA spokesperson Sanjay Sharma blamed the Congress-led state government for Dharamsala not getting any IPL matches.
He said, "Franchisees do not want to take the risk of hosting matches here (in Dharamsala) due to the politics played by the Congress-led state government. They are trying to harm the HPCA's image directly or indirectly because the association president is Anurag Thakur who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party,"
However, the biggest casualty in this longstanding political tussle is the sport itself and its fans. The tussle between Virbhadra Singh and Anurag Thakur becomes the villain for the spirit of the game. The HPCA stadium had been the home ground of the Kings XI Punjab for four years from 2010 to 2013 when the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) was in power in the state.
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