Mumbai: In a trend seen in recent years, the IPL 2026 final will not be staged by the home venue of the defending champions. This week, the May 31 finale was moved from Bengaluru to Ahmedabad. This has led to speculation that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has shown favoritism on various counts including political ones. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, however, rejected those charges.
No politics
“At the outset, let me make it clear, there is no politics in the allotment of IPL playoff matches,” he told HT. “BCCI is an apolitical organization. We have nothing to do with who is running which state government. We follow our own set protocols. But when a state government wants 900 tickets for the MLA, MLCs and 700 additional tickets for their expert committees, it becomes very difficult for us to cater to those demands.”
Demand for free passes
Saikia was referring to demands raised by the Karnataka state government relayed to the BCCI through Karnataka State Cricket Association.
“When we sourced information about a big number of additional tickets that KSCA required, we wrote to them on May 1. Beyond their 15% quota, they required more than 10,000 tickets, some of which they wanted complimentary and others at subsidised rates. 900 were meant for MLAs and MLCs, 750 tickets for expert committees belonging to the government, more for registered clubs of KSCA, tickets for the wives, spouses and children of members, special subsidised tickets for their life members.”
“Catering to all these demands would have left us with about 7000-8000 tickets for online sale for the common public. Because the capacity at Chinnaswamy stadium is about 32,000. Beyond the 15,000 tickets that KSCA wanted, BCCI has obligations for state associations, sponsors, franchises, foreign dignitaries. We could not leave a match of this stature with so few tickets for the fans. That is why the IPL Governing Council decided to move the final out of Bengaluru. But it was always our first preference. The opening match was awarded to Bengaluru and we want regular cricket there.”
Why Ahmedabad?
“There are different reasons why the IPL final has been moved to Ahmedabad, last year and this year. Last year, the final match could not be held in Kolkata (KKR were IPL 2024 winners) because of weather conditions. The IPL had to be suspended because of Operation Sindoor and the tournament stretched till the first week of June. Kolkata was to have pre-monsoon showers by then. Similarly, other places like Mumbai had the same threat.”
He added, “With the Ahmedabad stadium, the capacity of 1,32,000 is a big advantage. It can cater to additional requirements and the general public also gets sufficient tickets. Sometimes the state association there takes fewer than 15% of tickets. They don’t have to give tickets to Gujarat MLAs, MPs or the government. Besides, this year, the ICC meetings are also being staged in Ahmedabad at the end of this month. Many of those dignitaries can also attend the final.”
