Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore while talking about the venues for the Indian Premier League 14 (IPL 2021) said that it’s fair that they will play matches in neutral venues this season.
After being held in UAE last year, the most lucrative T20 league, IPL, is all set to commence from 9th April in India.
None of the teams will have home advantage as the tournament will be played across 6 cities in India with Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad hosting the playoffs and the final of the tournament.
Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and New Delhi will be the 5 cities along with Ahmedabad hosting the 14th edition of cash-rich league.
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Talking about playing in neutral venues two time IPL champions KKR’s CEO Venky Mysore said that it’s disappointing to not play at home conditions. He added that it’s fair to play in neutral venues and in bio-secure bubble during the tough times of Covid-19 pandemic.
"It's always a bit of a disappointment when you can't play at home. But these are very understandable reasons and these are very difficult and very unusual times as we all know we've all been through this for well over a year.
"I think it's a fair resolution by playing in neutral venues and in bio-secure bubble. While it's definitely something we are going to miss, but it's completely understandable under the circumstances,” Venky Mysore said in a virtual press conference.
Mysore said that they have appointed a 'bubble manager' and 'bubble integrity manager' and added that they have arranged charters as well as the bubble to bubble type of transfer when they leave the hotel and travel to the airport.
"We have a bubble manager, and there is a bubble integrity manager so there are some new positions that are getting created. Travel is going to be different this time because we're playing in four different cities and then go to the playoffs back to Ahmedabad. So we have charters arranged as well as the bubble to bubble type of transfer even when we leave the hotel and travel to the airport,” he said.
Mysore while talking about his team’s performance said that KKR have made seven qualifications in the playoffs, which means they are always a contender for title.
"It is a supremely competitive tournament. Last year we missed out on the qualification narrowly. This will be my 11th season with KKR and I believe we've made seven qualifications in the playoffs, which means that we're always a contender, we're always there,” he said.
Mysore suggested that luck also plays its part in a long tournament like the IPL and he his hoping for the stars to allign in KKR's favor this year.
“And I think that's what you aim to do to be a contender and then one has to earn the right to actually not only compete for the big prize but be there so the important thing is we've always been there. Hopefully, there are some stars that need to align as well in the long tournament like this, and we're looking forward to that," he concluded.
(PTI inputs)
