- Monday, February 24, 2025
Royal Challengers Bengaluru were set to take on Rajasthan Royals in the eliminator of the Indian Premier League 2024 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 22.
By: Shubham Ghosh
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU (RCB), who will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the eliminator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday (22), called off their only practice session ahead of the crucial game reportedly due to security reasons.
The team was scheduled to practise at the Gujarat College Ground in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (21) as the first qualifier between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad was played at the stadium but Faf du Plessis’s side decided to cancel it without citing an official reason.
The RR players went ahead with their regular nets session at the same venue.
Neither team, however, held any press conference on the eve of the all-important game.
Read: With contrasting IPL tales, Rajasthan & Bengaluru to clash in eliminator
The Gujarat Police arrested four men from the Ahmedabad airport on Monday (20) night on suspicion of terror activities. The police reportedly recovered arms, suspicious videos and text messages after searching the hideout of the four accused.
The security concern came just days after the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad arrested four Sri Lankan nationals with banned terror outfit Islamic State who allegedly reached India to carry out terror activities.
Read: Kolkata thrash Hyderabad in qualifier 1 to make IPL 2024 final
They were apprehended at the airport in Ahmedabad after they travelled from Colombo in the island nation via Chennai in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Sunday (19) night, an official said, according to the Press Trust of India. Some Pakistan-made pistols and cartridges were also recovered from the city that the arrested were allegedly looking to collect.
Bengali daily Anandabazar Patrika reported the police as suspecting that the RCB management decided to cancel the practice session was the security concern emanating from Monday’s incident. However, the general belief was the team did not go for practice due to the extreme heat in Gujarat.
According to the report, some officials of the state police and the state’s cricket administration suspect that the RCB did not want to take any risk keeping the security of Kohli in mind. The players already had adequate rest following their last match against Chennai Super Kings on Saturday (18). They took a break on Sunday (19) and reached Ahmedabad.
The local police, however, were happy that the RCB decided to cancel their practice session. One of the police officers told the Bengali news outlet that it is their responsibility to give Kohli security since he is a “national asset”. The ace batter has been the most prolific scorer of this IPL with more than 700 runs in 14 matches at an average of 64 plus and strike rate of 155.60. He needs 29 runs to complete 8,000 runs in the tournament as the first player.
It can be mentioned here that India’s security officials are under double pressure of providing security to the IPL and the country’s general elections, both marathon events going on for nearly two months.
The hotel in which the RCB team is staying has also been provided with a thick security blanket. The players have a different entry point which is not accessible for the common public.
The RR team was taken to the practice ground through a ‘green corridor’ which included a number of police vehicles. Police personnel were also deployed on the ground while the players sweated out.
Whoever win the eliminator will advance to the second qualifier to take on SRH who were hammered by KKR in the first qualifier. The losers will be knocked out. The winners of the second qualifier will play KKR in the final in Chennai on May 26.
