BCCI demands sporting pitches for IPL 6

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Tuesday, gave clear instructions to curators of all IPL venues not to bow down to the pressure from franchises regarding the preparation of tailor-made wickets for their respective home matches in the sixth edition of the cash-rich league.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the members of various state associations and their curators with the top brass of the BCCI.

"Clear instructions have been handed out to the curators that they should prepare sporting wickets and should not listen to any requests from the franchises. The franchise owners have also been apprised that they should not put any type of pressure on the curators to prepare wickets of their choice," a member of a state unit said.

"Neither the curators nor the franchises will be allowed to speak to the media on pitch-related issues," he added.

During the meeting, the BCCI also decided that Jaipur's Sawai Mansingh Stadium won't host any matches of IPL 6 due to the long-standing impasse between the state's sports council, custodians of the stadium, and the Rajasthan Cricket Association.

Instead Rajasthan Royals home matches will be held at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedamad and at the newly-built Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.

During the meeting, the Mumbai Cricket Association also asked the BCCI to form a uniform guideline regarding who can sit in the dug-out or enter the playing arena of the stadium apart from the players during IPL games.

This has been done in the wake of the controversy that erupted during the last edition of IPL when Kolkata Knight Riders principal owner Shah Rukh Khan entered the Wankhede Stadium turf allegedly in an inebriated state and had a massive altercation with MCA officials and one of the security guards, who supposedly misbehaved with the children accompanying the Bollywood superstar.

Incidentally, the MCA has banned Shah Rukh from entering its premises for five years.

"There has been a discussion on this matter. Even a top BCCI official also agreed that the rule regarding franchise owners should be uniform at all venues," the member said.

"In fact, there was a question raised if Shah Rukh is not allowed to enter Wankhede Stadium then whether he should be allowed to enter the playing arena of other stadiums. So the BCCI is planning to have a list of those individuals who will have the right to sit in the dug-out or enter the playing arena once the match is complete," he added.

Meanwhile, Kolkata's EdenGardens will be hosting the inaugural ceremony and the opening match of IPL 6 as well as the final game apart from one of the eliminators.