Chennai: In the wake of the ongoing Cauvery water dispute in Chennai, the remaining Indian Premier League (IPL) matches of Chennai Super Kings have been shifted to the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s (MCA) Stadium in Pune.
Confirming the news, the IPL said in a statement, “The IPL Governing Council assessed the current situation in Chennai and a decision was taken to shift the matches from the MA Chidambaram Stadium to Pune.”
On Wednesday, all the IPL matches, which were scheduled to be held in Chennai, were moved out of the state as a result of the ongoing protest against the Centre’s negligence for the formation of Cauvery Management Board (CMB).
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CSK are scheduled to play their next home game against Rajasthan Royals on April 20, which will be followed by home matches against Mumbai Indians (April 28), Delhi Daredevils (April 30), Royal Challengers Bangalore (May 5), Sunrisers Hyderabad (May 13) and Kings XI Punjab (May 20).
Earlier, CSK made a happy homecoming at MA Chidambaram Stadium and went on to beat Kolkata Knight Riders in the last-over thriller on Tuesday.
However, the clash was marred by controversy as 21 Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) party workers were arrested and sent to Puzhal Central Prison for holding protests over Cauvery issue outside Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium in a bid to stop the match.
The arrested party workers were charged for beating up policemen on duty who were deployed to curb the protest and ensure the match to be held between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) was played without trouble.
The protestors were demanding that the IPL matches not be held when a more pressing matter – the Centre’s failure to constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) – was at the fore.