IPL 2018: MCA wants IPL playoffs to be played in Pune

The Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) has recently requested the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to schedule the IPL playoffs in Pune this year. MCA is quite keen on hosting the business end games of the most popular tournament in the world cricket at the moment. It is worth noting that albeit there will be no Pune-based franchise in the tournament this year, the MCA can still put forth their claims of being the potential hosts for the big games.

The one big factor that could potentially work in the favor of the MCA is the fact that the now defunct Rising Pune Supergiant had finished as the finalists of the previous edition of the tournament. The venue at Pune, known as the MCA International Stadium, is located at the outskirts of the city. It lies on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The venue has a picturesque background and the ground facilities are second to none.

Follow the usual practice?

The crowds at the venue have often been a full house and hence, the MCA has claimed that the business end games could fetch full house crowds in the stadium. As per the reports in Sportstarlive, the MCA President Abhay Apte addressed the IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla in a letter recently. He cited that the IPL has always had the policy of letting the Eliminator and the second qualifier take place at the home venue of the losing finalist of the previous season.

“As such, the venue of last year’s IPL runner-up (Team Pune), i.e. MCA’s stadium at Gahunje, Pune should be the logical choice to stage the eliminator and the qualifier 2 matches. Just because there is no “Pune Team” this year, we cannot change the history and record that this was the venue of the runners-up IPL team (in 2017). Holding matches at Pune will also (be) an honour and justice to the fan base of IPL which has been created in Pune,” Apte wrote in the letter.

BCCI’s response to this letter is yet to be received by the media. Meanwhile, Pune could host the home matches for Rajasthan Royals if the venue at Jaipur fails to get the government clearances.

For the latest cricket news, follow CricTracker.