IPL 2019 | BCCI shift IPL final to Hyderabad after TNCA fails to get required permissions

The Board of Control for Cricket in India have decided to shift the venue of this year’s IPL final from Chepauk in Chennai to Visakhapatnam in Hyderabad. This comes after Tamil Nadu Cricket Association officials failed to secure the required permission from the state government to open the three closed stands at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk.

"We had to shift the matches from Chennai to Hyderabad after TNCA intimated us that they have not procured the requisite permission to open the three stands I, J and K.

"Since the gate sales of the knock-out matches is BCCI's prerogative, we had to take a call. We would be having two knock-out matches in Vizag," Committee of Administrators (CoA) chief Vinod Rai told PTI on Monday.

The final, which is scheduled for May 12, will be held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings still have a chance to play Qualifier 1 (May 7) in front of home fans if they manage to finish among the top two teams in the league. However, the Eliminator (May 8) and Qualifier 2 (May 10) have been shifted to Visakhapatnam.

"CSK, by virtue of being defending champions, were allotted the Qualifier 1 and final. Now if they finish in the top two, you cannot take away all the games. They deserve to get at least one of the knock-out games," Rai added.

The three stands in Chepauk amount to more than 12,000 tickets and BCCI would have lost out on a few crores of gate money if the final was to be held in Chennai. The stands have remained closed since 2012 barring one international match between India and Pakistan when an exception was made.