Special midnight trains, rain arrangements in place as IPL returns to Eden Gardens after 3 years

Will there be any loss of overs in the IPL 2022 playoffs? What is the weather update in West Bengal for May 24 and 25? The entire country has its eyes on the Kolkata skies as the blingy T20 league returns to the city after a gap of more than three years.

As soon as the Mumbai Indians (MI) edged out the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday, thus guaranteeing the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) the final playoff spot, Virat Kohli put out a tweet indicating that they will be on their way to Kolkata.

Little would have the former skipper known that the city was severed by a 90 kph Nor’wester that very evening. One of the many destructions was the glass of the Eden Gardens press box, which was completely shattered. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) squad got first-hand experience of the same in what was a turbulent flight journey from Mumbai.

While the Met department has spied light to moderate rainfall in Kolkata over the next two days, one can never correctly predict the onset of a Kalbaishaki – as it is colloquially known.

In good news for all, the pitch was no longer under covers on Monday even though one-third of the ground still had sheets on. The IPL teams, however, were preparing in full swing - the side nets were in use, as was the remainder of the lush green outfield for fielding drills.

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), though, is on high alert and has pulled out all the stops to ensure that there is smooth conduct of the two matches. Servicing the drainage system and super soppers, purchasing new covers and increasing the sand content of the outfield so that water gets dried up faster are some of the standout measures that the state association has put in place.

“Rain is not in anybody’s hands. We have procured new covers which we’ll be using for these matches. It’s a similar type, but we’ve bought new covers for the entire ground, so we’re confident about that. And already, our drainage lines and super soppers have all been serviced. We’re all ready for it and I don’t think there will be much difficulty because we have also increased the sand content of the ground. So it should help in drying up fast,” CAB president Avishek Dalmiya said in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.

Table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) will play the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday, before RCB take on the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Eliminator the following evening.

Board of Control for Cricket of India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has been paying regular visits to CAB in the build-up to the IPL knockouts.

“We discussed about operational issues with him and the areas where we need intervention from the BCCI, and also the terms and conditions which are there for the host association. So his inputs are always welcome and it’s always better when you have the BCCI president from your state association,” Dalmiya stated.

Reportedly, Super Overs will be played if even a five-over contest fails to take place. And if rain continues to pelt down and no play is possible, then league standings will declare the winner of the match.

The BCCI has also allowed the playoff matches to start as late as 9:40 pm IST (10:10 pm for the final) without the loss of any overs. In such a scenario, the innings break will be reduced to seven minutes while the strategic timeouts of 150 seconds each will remain unhindered.

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Geared up for 100 percent crowd return

A three-year hiatus is a long time and the hunger of the cricket-crazy fans of Kolkata came to the fore when all the tickets for Qualifier 1 and the Eliminator flew off the virtual shelves even before the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) played their last league fixture on May 18. Approximately 10,000 tickets have been reserved for the several members of CAB.

While hosting matches with bio-bubbles in place isn’t alien to the CAB, having 67,000 fans throng the stadium will be as much a welcoming move as a cautionary one. Echoing similar sentiments, Avishek Dalmiya mentioned that the only addition to the arrangements would be team boxes.

“As you know that, 100 percent crowd will be allowed but, despite that, bio-bubble needs to be maintained. We already had the mechanism of how to do it – we had done that for the T20Is in November and March. But that time, the percentage of the crowd was lesser. Now that would be more but, in addition to that, there would also be a separate segment in the boxes which also need to be part of the bubble. So we had rounds of meetings with the police authorities and the BCCI people those who have come here – the venue management team. And we’re trying to work out the best of the facilities, so that there is smooth conduct of the ingress and egress of all the players,” he told Sportskeeda.

A total of four boxes with a capacity of 25 will be provided to every team. While two of those boxes will be a part of the bio-bubble and among the corporate boxes in Block C, two such rooms which will be outside the bio-security radius will be provided in Block B.

Dalmiya requests families and close aides of the players to come with time on their hands, so that they can avail the green corridor and enter the ground without coming into contact with the crowd.

“Players will go to the ground through Gate no. 17. Those who are in the bubble, they’ll come little earlier because their access will be through Gate no. 3 and green corridor needs to be created. So it is advisable that they come before the crowds start coming in. We had a discussion with the board and also with the police authorities regarding this,” the CAB chief exhorted.

Bearing in mind the two COVID-19 scares this season, the groundstaff at Eden Gardens will also be checked for the virus. Avishek Dalmiya reiterated that they are housed within the premises of the ground, thus reducing the risk of contraction.

“Groundstaff will be tested more than once, before the matches and prior to the matchday. And in any case, they will be in Zone 2 – Zone 1 is where the players are, Zone 2 is just behind the perimeter boards. They will be mostly located there, except when they need to come to roll or anything that needs to be done in the wicket. They stay at Eden only, but that’s a separate block,” he revealed.

The City of Joy was all set to stage the final leg of the league stage last season before a deadly second wave of the pandemic forced the tournament out of the country to the UAE. The last taste of IPL at the Eden Gardens was on April 28, 2019 when KKR beat MI by 34 runs.

Check out the IPL timetable here.

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CAB ensures hassle-free midnight commute

Meanwhile, fans living on the metro line need not keep an eye on the watch and can stay back not only until the final ball is bowled but also for the prize distribution ceremony.

On CAB’s request, Metro Railway will run two special services at midnight on both Tuesday and Wednesday. As per a press release – a copy of which is with Sportskeeda – one train each from Esplanade will leave for Dakshineshwar and Kavi Subhash at 12:00 am. The booking counters, however, will remain open only at the Esplanade station.

The Sealdah Division of Eastern Railway has also organised two additional services – one from Prinsep Ghat to Barasat and the other from B.B.D. Bag to Baruipur. The EMU train from Prinsep is scheduled to leave at 11:50 pm while the latter will depart at 0:02 am.

A similar message has also been conveyed to the transport department so that ample buses and taxis are available in the wee hours on both days. In fact, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in a letter to Avishek Dalmiya has sent her warm regards for the two IPL matches.

The IPL juggernaut will travel from Kolkata to Ahmedabad where the Motera will play host to the Qualifier 2 on May 27 and the final on May 29. The start of the summit clash has been pushed back to 8 pm.

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