IPL 2018: IPL chairman confirms Eliminator and Qualifier 2 to be shifted to Kolkata

This year’s IPL is going on in full flow. There is no shortage of excitement as any team has the potential to beat the other team on a given day. Amid all this fanfare, there is some big news coming in for all IPL fans.

The venue for the Eliminator and the 2nd Qualifier has been shifted. Both theses matches were scheduled to be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune.

Pune is the same ground which has been recognized as the home ground of Chennai Super Kings this season.  Earlier, following the Cauvery Water Dispute, the home venue of CSK was shifted from Chennai to the MCA stadium in Pune.

The Eliminator and the second Qualifier will now be played in the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, much to the delight of the sport loving Bengal fans.

However, this news comes as a great disappointment for the Pune residents. After the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise became defunct, the Pune crowd had very little to look forward to.

However, due to the Cauvery Water Dispute things changed and the fans got to see their favourite MS Dhoni and CSK play in the MCA. They were well received in Pune as fans filled in the stadium for their beloved team.

If KKR manage to qualify for either of the Eliminator or the 2nd qualifier, rest assured that the Eden Gardens with the capacity of 67,000 would not have a vacant chair.

“We are happy to host the play-off matches and are looking forward to it,” Avishek Dalmiya , the joint-secretary  of Cricket Association of Bengal  said.

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla confirmed that the two matches will be played in Kolkata on May 23 and 25 respectively. Whereas, the Qualifier 1 and the Final to be played on May 22 and 27 respectively will be hosted by the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.