Guwahati: Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 6 will be moved from Kolkata to Guwahati due to security concerns arising from the ongoing Ram Navami celebrations in the city.
Snehasish Ganguly, president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), confirmed the shift on March 20, 2025.
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BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari revealed that over 20,000 processions are scheduled across West Bengal for the festival, further complicating security arrangements for the match.
Ganguly stated that while the need to reschedule the game was communicated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), there were no options to hold it in Kolkata later. “It looks like the game will be shifted to Guwahati,” he said.
The match was expected to draw a huge crowd, given the strong fan support for both teams, but the lack of adequate security personnel in Kolkata made it impossible to hold the game there. This isn’t the first time security issues have affected KKR’s home matches.
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During the 2024 season, a game against Rajasthan Royals was also rescheduled due to the Ram Navami celebrations. Ganguly emphasized the challenge of managing a crowd of 65,000 without sufficient police protection, saying, “Without police protection, it is impossible to accommodate and manage such a large audience.”
An official announcement from IPL regarding the relocation of the match is still awaited.